Master's Degree
by OceanSpiral
Summary: After failing a module at Saffron University Ivy McKenzie has to find some way to attain extra credit to continue her degree. Faced with a list of unattractive summer study courses, Ivy chooses the final option; a demanding three month Pokemon journey with a list of not so common Pokemon to obtain. Following along? Sassy best friend, hotheaded sister and a pair of enigmatic cousins
1. A Failing Grade

**Master's Degree  
><strong>**Chapter 1:  
><strong>**A Failing Grade**

The sound of rushed footfalls echoed loudly down the almost empty corridor of Saffron University's History department. Doors swung open and banged shut as the panicked footsteps got closer and closer, before frantically ascending the stairs of the second floor. A young woman with chocolate brown hair breathlessly threw herself through another set of doors and started sprinting down another set of corridors, the folds of her royal blue dress billowing wildly around her legs as she ran.

"_I__'__m __not __gonna __make __it __in __time_!" she thought in horror, as she cursed the maze-like structure of the building.

Pushing herself to her utmost limit, her footsteps sounding like the gallops of Rapidash, she finally reached the History Department Office, almost bowling over another student with a Pokeball backpack in the process. Panting heavily, her chest heaving, she fumbled with the sheets of paper she was clutching, hastily stapling them together with a stapler. Scribbling her name down on the front cover, she double-checked her watch. Three minutes to five. Gasping, she lunged forward, slotting her essay through into the collection bin. She let out a fervent sigh of relief as she heard the familiar _dunt _of the paper hitting the bottom of the bin. Collapsing against the wall for a brief moment to catch her breath, she smoothed down the pleats of her blue dress, pulled the folds off her grey cardigan further around her, ran a hand through her brown hair and slowly started to walk back towards the university main building.

Threading herself expertly through the throngs of students on their way to and from classes, Ivy let out a long sigh as the sounds of giggling and shouting reached almost deafening levels. She pushed past a group of first year girls congregating in front of their lecture theatre, and was then faced with an onslaught of incoming students. Interlocked slabs of colour met her eyes, and the students droned and buzzed like incessant insects. Sighing, she slipped her skinny body between the small gaps available and eventually broke out into the main university building.

The familiar mingling smells and sounds of university life hit her like a punch in the face as she half walked, half jogged up to the library. She stopped to wave at a former flatmate as she paused to hand in the books she had borrowed.

"Name?" the woman at the booth asked, almost lazily, not even looking the young woman in the eye.

"Ivy McKenzie,"

"Student number?"

"Hang on," Ivy delved into her purse for her student card and reeled off the six digit number on the back of the card. The woman raised her eyebrows slightly. She very rarely saw a second year student who _still _struggled to remember the number they had to use on _every _single piece of work they submitted…

With that, Ivy handed over the stack of History books she'd used to write her last essay, grateful to get the heavy tomes off her hands, thanked the woman and left.

It took her only a few moments to spot the figure of her best friend, Jack Hartman, sitting idly, legs crossed, at the social study part of the university library. Dodging through the various other seats and students hard at work, she collapsed into the seat opposite her best friend. Jack didn't even acknowledge her as she sat down heavily. Instead he nonchalantly turned another page of the book he was reading.

"Did you get it handed in on time, then?" he asked, still not looking up.

"Just about!" she said with a relieved sigh. "Three minutes to five I think!"

He let out a sigh, taking a slow sip from his can of lemonade, but still not looking up from his book. "Ivy, you _really _have to learn to use your time better. Maybe then you won't panic so much,"

"I can't help it," she wailed. "I _try _to do everything before the deadline, but I always lose track of time and then… then it just doesn't seem to work…"

"No kiddin'," Jack deadpanned.

"All right, shut up Mr Teacher-in-Training," Ivy said, giving Jack's skinny arm a quick shake. "Being punctual is part of your _job_."

"_Will _be part of my job," he corrected, flipping over another page. "But if you still insist on bothering me when I'm trying to read and do work, I'm gonna end up being a failure and not _having _a job" He paused, as if for dramatic effect. "At least then you'll have company… You know, when you _fail_."

"Aww!" she whimpered, knowing full well her friend was only teasing, but still feeling a quick stab of apprehension to her chest. "You're so mean to me, Jack!"

"I do _try_, darling." He said dryly, eventually setting the book down and fixing his deep blue eyes on Ivy's hazel ones. "How _was _your essay anyway?"

"I think it's pretty decent," Ivy said lightly, crossing her legs and relaxing in her seat. "Well, it _better _be. It's the last essay of the semester. If I _don__'__t _pass, I'm pretty..." she trailed off, searching for an appropriate word to describe the situation.

"Screwed?"

"More-or-less…" She said, managing to muster up a smile.

"Uhh…should you really be smiling?" he asked, picking up his book again. "Shouldn't you be _worried_?"

"I _should_ be," she said, still attempting to mask her apprehension and worry with a thinly stretched smile. "But… I guess I can't really do anything about it now. It's handed in, it's done, it's finished with."

Jack shook his head despairingly. "Only _you _could leave an essay worth _60% _of your grade till practically the night before _and _almost hand it in late. You're a marvel, Ivy McKenzie."

Almost immediately cheered up, Ivy managed a genuine smile. "Why, thank you, Mr Hartman!" she trilled, reaching across to ruffle Jack's spiky blonde hair. Jack grimaced and pulled away from her outreached arms, looking a little annoyed. "Aww!" Ivy faked being upset. "You're so serious for a teacher-to-be, Jack."

"And _you__'__re_ so loud and ditzy for a History student," Jack said, peering over his book. "_And _you can't remember dates. Or names. Are you sure you're in the right degree choice?"

Ivy pouted.

"Wait, wait, wait, let me guess…" Jack set his book down, a wicked smile spreading across his face. "It was either this or Pokemon training, right?"

"Hey, come on!" Ivy looked offended. "I'm pretty sure even _I _can do better than having to do Pokemon training for a living,"

"Hey, just cos you don't like it doesn't mean it's _all _bad." Jack said lightly. "Besides, aren't your sisters into Pokemon and all that stuff?"

"Well, Lily-Mae did it for a few years, but she never really went anywhere with it," Ivy said with a quick shrug, remembering her older sister's two year absence from home. "She didn't even capture that many Pokemon _or _get any badges. I think the only Pokemon she still _has _from back then is her Pikachu,"

"Figures," Jack deadpanned. "Girls and cute Pokemon…"

Ivy sniggered. "Yeah, that is true."

"What about your other sister?"

"Oh, Michaela? She's just left on her journey, she's got _huge _ambitions. Wants to be a Gym Leader, an Elite Four member, a Pokemon master, a co-ordinator, a Breeder, _everything_."

Jack looked amused. "Typical ambitions for a ten year old, huh?"

Ivy looked a little confused. "What? Michaela's _fifteen_."

A hint of a frown adorned Jack's face, before he snickered softly. "Oh dear…"

"Exactly what I said," Ivy said with a quick shrug. "The thing is, I kinda feel sorry for Michaela… she's not really cut out to be a trainer. She's too… _soft _and sweet to battle Pokemon, I think…"

They were distracted momentarily as a gaggle of students ran past them, talking and chattering loudly, brandishing laptop bags and thick pads of paper, heading for the only spare table in the social library. Unfortunately, the only spare table in the social library was _right _next to Jack and Ivy. Both friends grimaced as the group of students started bursting open crisp packets and pre-packaged sandwiches, before ripping out pens and papers and laptops, before beginning to talk _very _loudly and obnoxiously. Jack rolled his deep blue eyes. "First years…" he hissed under his breath.

Ivy cast him a sympathetic look.

"Well," Jack said with a sigh, trying to bring the conversation back on-topic. "You just better make sure you _do_ pass your degree, then. Otherwise you may well end up having to resort to Pokemon training as a career,"

"Not on my life," Ivy said, leaning forward in her chair. "Let's face it; have you _seen _the people in my family? Lily Mae's stuck in a dead end job; Michaela's jaunting around Kanto like a madwoman, and Lewis? Well, he's not exactly a "model student" either. I'm pretty much the family's only hope for a properly educated woman."

"And not a good hope at that, judging from your results last semester…"

Ivy cringed inwardly as she remembered her less than impressive results from the previous semester. She hated to admit it, but the impending feeling of doom regarding her university career was growing stronger with every passing day. She had to pull _something _out of the bag soon if she wanted to gain access to her third year and hope to someday graduate with honours. But Jack was right… she was _already_ teetering on the edge between passing and failing…

"Jaaack, do you have to be so mean all the time?" Ivy recoiled, wounded.

"You just know I'm right."

Ivy frowned.

"Relax, darling, I'm _teasing._" He shot her a quick smile.

"I just don't wanna faaaaaail!" she whined, slamming her head into the table. However, she put more force behind it than she expected, and the resounding _thump _vibrated throughout the entire table. "Ow." She said thickly.

"You idiot," Jack said, gently hitting the top of her head with his book. "Don't worry, you won't fail. Next time, just _prepare _better."

"Hmph…"

"Come on," Jack ruffled his best friend's chocolate brown hair, making it stick up in odd quiffs. "Fancy dinner?"

"Why, are you buying?" she shot her head up immediately, a red welt comically forming in the centre of her forehead, a grin spreading across her face.

"No," he said at once, flicking her in the forehead with his long, pale fingers.

"You're so mean," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Like I said, I do try," he said, getting up and pulling his best friend to her feet. "Let's go to the student union, okay? I fancy something horrifically fatty and greasy,"

"Ohh, you're a man after my own heart!"

"You're barking up the wrong tree, love." He said, but still grasped his best friend's hand in his. He then effortlessly dumped the book he had been reading into Ivy's spare hand, who frowned at the copy of "_Learning __to __Teach __in __the __Primary __School_".

Ivy glanced it, looking as if it was some alien object. "What am I holding this for?"

"Just because," he said with a shrug.

"Hmm…" Ivy grumbled, flicking through the thick book and frowning again at some of the chapter titles. "_"__Learning __and __Learners __in __Education__"__?__ "__Challenges __and __Trends __in __Education__"__?__ "__The __Nature __and __Goals __of __Teaching__"__?_Oh my God, Jack, this all looks so complicated!"

"Naturally," Jack said with a smile. "You are in the company of a highly intelligent man, after all."

"Cheeky!" Ivy snapped the book shut and hit Jack playfully with it.

Jack grinned, who was enjoying his role as "Chief-Ivy-tormentor" far too much, and couldn't resist getting in one final cheap dig. "Just remember this when you're a university drop out, having to train Pokemon for a living,"

"Remember what?" Ivy asked, her face both twisted in annoyance and confusion.

"What it's like to be in the company of actual _intelligent _people who don't scream at total strangers wanting to show you their balls!" Jack snorted.

"Shut up!" Ivy beat her fists against Jack's skinny arms, and had to fight to resist the urge to stamp her feet like a little child. "I am _not _going to fail university! I am _not _going to fail my degree, and I am _certainly __not _going to have to become a Pokemon trainer to make money! Okay?"

"Okay," Jack said with a grin, spreading his arms wide in the picture of feigned innocence. "But don't say I didn't warn you…"

"Jack, have a little faith." Ivy said offhandedly, cocking her head to one side and crossing her arms firmly. "I am _not _going to be a university drop-out. Trust me. Okay?"

Jack smiled and shook his head after his friend. "Okay."

"Hmphf!" Ivy said, nodding her head with finality, whilst privately thinking "_Please__… __Ivy __McKenzie, __a __Pokemon __trainer? __Yeah __right__… __there__'__s __a __snowball__'__s __chance __in __hell __of _that _happening__…_"

* * *

><p>"I… I've failed?"<p>

"Yes, Miss McKenzie…" the elderly History tutor said in an almost bored manner as he surveyed the young woman sitting in front of him. In her blue plaid dress, black slip-on shoes and her hair pulled back into a messy, thick plait, he felt like he was talking to a little schoolgirl and not a young woman in her second year of university. "You didn't meet the necessary module requirements."

"B…bu…but…!" Ivy's bottom lip was quivering ominously, her hazel eyes looking as if they were in danger of spilling over any second now. "I passed the exam…"

"Which was only worth 40% of the overall grade." The tutor stated bluntly, a deep set frown slowly eroding his already wrinkled face. "Unfortunately, your combined exam result and rather… _unsatisfactory _essay wasn't enough to meet the necessary requirements."

"Well… well what can I do?" Ivy asked desperately. "Can I re-sit the exam?"

"Well, no. You _passed _the exam. You failed on grounds of the essay."

"Can I re-submit the essay then?"

The tutor was beginning to look annoyed, and mopped at his brow with a thick embroidered handkerchief, which he then stored in the pocket of his overcoat. His deep, cultured voice held traces of badly-concealed irritation. "I'm afraid not, Miss McKenzie…"

"Then what _can _I do?"

"Very little, I'm afraid. You've failed this semester's module."

"Am I going to fail my degree?" Ivy cried hysterically.

"Not necessarily," the tutor walked slowly around to sit at the mahogany desk in his small office. He idly opened a book, seemed to read a page at random, and then snapped it shut again. The loud noise echoed in the tightly-packed room, making Ivy jump inadvertently. "You _could _re-sit the module," The tutor eventually surmised. "Once the next academic year comes around."

"No!" Ivy protested at once, horror setting in immediately. "I won't be able to! I _need _to gain all the credits from _this _module so I can even get _in _to third year to re-sit!"

The tutor raised one thick, greying eyebrow in the girl's direction.

"I… I mean…" Ivy lowered her voice and strung her hands together. "Without the credits from this module, I can't get into third year to _do _any re-sits!"

"I understand that, Miss McKenzie."

Ivy jerked her head up, surprised. A momentary flash of hope struck her, and she clung to it immediately. "You… you do?"

"Indeed. This is why Saffron University offers summer study programs."

Ivy blinked. "Huh? Summer study…?"

"Yes. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept?"

"Uhh!" Ivy flustered for a moment. "Y…yes! Of course! I just didn't realise _this _university offered it. I mean, I knew that Celadon University and… and Goldenrod University and… uhh… Oh! Castelia City University too! I know _they _all offer summer study. N…not that our university is _worse _than those other universities, not at all! Oh even though we haven't been doing as well in the polls recently… But that's not to say our university isn't good! I really love being here but—"

"Miss McKenzie." The tutor interrupted Ivy's ramblings with a firm voice, silencing her immediately.

"Sorry…" she whispered, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks. She had an unpleasant and embarrassing trait that Jack had fondly nicknamed "foot-in-mouth disease", in which her mouth tended to engage before her brain did. It made for a _lot _of awkward situations…

"Yes, well. Summer study." The tutor cleared his throat loudly, still looking as if this was the last situation he wanted to be in. "It's a three month programme over the course of the summer. Completing any of the offered courses will give you the exact number of credits you need to return to university to re-sit your failed module."

Ivy's heart plummeted to somewhere in her stomach. Three _month_ study course? That would mean she would be working throughout the entire summer! She began to panic inwardly. Her family weren't that financially stable, and Ivy relied on student loans to pay for tuition and student accommodation, as well as a part time job at weekends for money for extra necessities. Summers and winters were perfect opportunities for her to work, unobstructed by a university timetable, and earn money for the following year. Her hands clenched around the folds of her plaid dress. This was going to be financially crushing for her. But what choice did she have? It was either this course, or fail the degree…

"What… What courses _are _available?" she said in a barely audible whisper.

"Here you are," the history tutor passed over a leaflet that had been sitting on his desk for quite some time. "Any of these courses will give you the required credits you need."

Ivy glanced over the sheet, her heart sinking with every sentence she read.

"_Data Skills; a module to build confidence in handling numbers and formulae in either a statistical or a mathematical context._

_Classics of World Cinema; a module to study a wide variety of film classics from both well-known and under-represented regions in world cinema, within their socio-political, historical and cultural contexts._

_Marketing in a Johto Context; a module to study some of the key concepts in marketing with the additional benefit of thinking about them in the context of the Johto region._"

Ivy swallowed deeply, feeling the threat of tears again. It was a noticeable struggle this time around to bite them back. "Is this… _all _that's available?"

"You don't like the sound of the courses, Miss McKenzie?"

"Oh no, it's not that…" She said sadly, letting the slip of paper fall to her knees. "It's just… these courses look super hard. I mean, I can't work with numbers to save my life, and the concept of money just… _confuses _me. I don't get recessions! I mean, if they're so short on money why can't they just print _more_?"

"Miss McKenzie…" the tutor said seriously, a fierce frown eroding his face.

"Sorry, sorry," she said helplessly, biting her lip furiously to keep herself composed.

"Well, what about the Classics of World Cinema?"

"Mmm…" Ivy frowned. "It's a lot of old black and white films from "under-represented" countries, right? No offence, but I think films are for watching… not for dissecting to pieces…"

The tutor grunted angrily.

Sensing she was skating on thin ice, Ivy refocused herself. "So… so there _really _isn't _anything _else? Anything at _all_?"

"Well, there is one further option. However, I must warn you, it is an excessively difficult course to pass, and generally is unsuitable for many of our… _academic _students. I must also warn you that this course has a very small pass rate. If you're still interested, the details are on the other side of that leaflet."

Ivy whimpered, but obediently turned the sheet of paper over and found another paragraph of writing.

"_The __Art __of __Training __and __Raising __Pokemon __in __a __Practical __Setting;_

_In correlation with the newly established Pokemon Training department of Saffron University, students will be set a three month long challenge of capturing, raising and training Pokemon throughout the duration of the summer. Students will be provided with one pack of Pokeballs ONLY and expected to capture their own Pokemon and be responsible for their own training. _

_Students will be given a list of commonly found Pokemon around the Kanto region and expected to capture each one on the list to present at the end of the three month course. At the end of the program, students will be assessed on the strength and condition of their captured Pokemon, and merit will be given for any additional Pokemon captured and any badges obtained. _

_Students __will __be __assessed __on __a __pass __or __fail __basis._"

"Oh my God…" Ivy whispered, having no other words for what she had just read. She looked up at her tutor, wide-eyed and pale.

"Does that one appeal to you?" there was a hint of a smile on the tutor's face as if he was _enjoying _the discomfort the young girl in front of him was experiencing. Of course the idea of the course didn't appeal to her. Most of the students at university went to university because they _didn__'__t _want to become Pokemon trainers. Maybe they had more ambition than that, maybe they were _forced _into gaining a degree, or maybe they just flat-out weren't interested in Pokemon, the general consensus remained the same.

University students weren't cut out for Pokemon training. And they knew it.

Flummoxed at the choices she had, Ivy let the paper fall to the ground. "I… I…" she faltered, unable to spit out any coherent sentences.

"Miss McKenzie, I need a decision."

"What, now!" Ivy gasped in horror.

"Yes. I need to file in the request _today _if you want to be accepted onto the course for the beginning of the summer."

"Oh no…" Ivy groaned.

"So, which is it Miss McKenzie?" the tutor said, barely able to mask his glee at his perpetually ditzy, frankly fairly annoying student's predicament.

Ivy let out a further long, tortured groan before sinking her head into the sieve of her hands. Panicked thoughts raced through her head, and a horrible feeling of dread and anticipation was rising in her chest, making it difficult for her to draw breath.

"_I'm screwed. I'm seriously screwed! All those others modules sound so _boring _and so difficult! I can't do them! I'll fail before I even set foot in the class! There's no way I can hope to pass any of them! I… I don't have a choice here, do I?" _the realisation hit her like she'd just ran into a brick wall._ "There's no other choice here! If it means I can still keep going with my degree, I'll do anything. Even… even _that."

Ivy couldn't help but think back to the time barely even a month ago when she had proudly declared to Jack that there was no way she was ever going to have to resort to Pokemon training by failing a degree. She forced herself to chuckle out loud, but it came out humourless and cheap. She knew if she didn't laugh, she had a nasty suspicion she was going to end up in tears instead. She felt so horribly disappointed in herself, and she gripped her legs firmly, her fingernails digging deep into her flesh. Her parents were going to be so disappointed in her, Jack was going to be so disappointed, _everyone _was going to be so disappointed in her. Her family had gone through so many hardships and difficulties to get her into university; she was the first in her family to be able to attain a higher level of education, she could _not _let that opportunity go to waste, and she could not let down her family. She couldn't let them down and that was _it._

Sniffing sharply, she straightened herself up and raised her head to look her tutor square in his heavily lidded eyes. Letting out a sigh, she resigned herself to the hard decision she would have to make. Oddly enough, only one thought was circling through her head as she stated her decision to her tutor.

"_Oh __boy, __Jack __is __sure __gonna _love _hearing __about __this__…_"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Hello :) OceanSpiral here with a brand new Pokemon fic! **

**I hope you can enjoy this new fic of mine, and if you do, take a look at my other Pokemon fics :)**

**Thanks so much to the lovely Sunbean and the members of her forum for the help and encouragement with the fic, especially with the title :)**

**Please read, and don't be shy in dropping a review :) **


	2. Define Irony

**Chapter 2:  
><strong>**Define Irony**

"Jack…"

"Yes…?" Jack imitated his friend's slow, wary tone.

"Define irony,"

Jack blinked at the strange question, closed his book and repositioned himself slightly on Ivy's bed. Both he and Ivy were relaxing, or in Ivy's case, _attempting _to relax, in Ivy's modest bedroom in the student flat she shared with two other Saffron University students. It had been a day since Ivy had signed up for the three month Pokemon training journey, and still feeling depressed about it, Ivy had retreated to the safety of her flat, her warm bed, her biggest hooded jumper and what scarily looked like a year's supply of chocolate. Jack murmured thoughtfully at the question. "Irony…" he said "Well, I don't know… It's not copper-y. It's not brass-y. It's just kind of… iron-y."

"Ha bloody ha," Ivy, still wrapped up in the warm, soft embrace of her duvet cover leaned forward and butted her head weakly into Jack's arms. "You're _hilarious_."

"Why, thank you,"

Ivy groaned at Jack's response and slumped back into her bed, trying to pull the covers over her red and blotchy face. She'd spent the better part of the past twenty-four hours in irregular fits of tears and depression, and Jack had been called in as backup when Ivy's two flatmates could no longer deal with her.

Jack watched her in mild amusement as she grappled with the bedcovers, looking quite as if she wanted to disappear under them completely. She was being quite ridiculous, he thought privately, but what kind of friend would he be if he didn't at least _try _to bring her out of her depression? Sighing a little, he flipped the page of the latest book he was reading and continued where he left off.

"No, Jack." Ivy's voice came again a few long moments later, muffled from the soft covers masking her face. "Irony is when you insist you'll never need to become a Pokemon trainer and then not even a month later you find out you _have _to do it to pass your goddamn _degree_!"

Jack didn't even wince at Ivy's angered tone. Instead, he turned the next page and continued reading. "Have you told your parents yet?"

"Are you kidding?" she exploded, kicking the covers angrily, narrowly avoiding kicking Jack in the face in the process. "I'm not telling them! They'll be so disappointed in me for failing!"

Jack frowned, eager to steer the conversation away from the potential mine-field of the topic of Ivy's parents. He had already endured about an hour's worth of tears over how Ivy's parents would be "so disappointed" in her and would "disown her", and he was eager to move away from that subject altogether. "Won't they wonder where you are over the _entire _summer?"

"I'll tell them I got a job and have to stay in Saffron," Ivy said at once, barely able to hide the pride in her voice that she had thought of that alibi.

"Fair enough," Jack nodded, admitting that that was feasible enough. However, there was a glaringly large loophole in this plan of hers. "But, I'd like to see you explain why you suddenly have an entourage of Pokemon at your side when you _do _eventually go home."

Ivy swore.

"Language, language," Jack chastised her lightly.

"I _cannot _tell them that I failed!" she insisted vehemently.

"So, you're just going to lie to them?"

"I'm not going to _lie_. I'm just going to not tell them the truth."

"That's the same thing," Jack's eyebrow twitched.

"No, it's not. Lying means to tell something _other _than the truth. Not telling someone something is just _avoiding _the truth,"

Jack blinked, shutting his book. "So, you can't remember names, dates and faces, but you can be as pedantic as _that _when it suits you?"

Ivy grunted in response.

"Don't lie to your parents. Just tell them the truth."

"I caaaaaaaaaan't!" Ivy wailed.

"Yes, you can." Jack said patiently.

"No, I can't!"

"Ivy, do _not _make me use the teacher voice on you."

Ivy groaned, rolling over and burying her face in the pillow. "I hate the teacher voice…!"

"Well, sit up straight then!" Jack's voice was surprisingly firm and held the impression his orders were _not _up for discussion.

Ivy groaned, but obediently (albeit reluctantly) disentangled herself from the bed clothes, and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Good, Jack reasoned, he was getting somewhere with her. However she had pulled the hood of her jumper firmly over her face and was refusing to make eye contact.

"Take that hood off your face," he said in a low, commanding voice.

Knowing her best friend meant business, and not liking the tone he was using, Ivy pulled off the hood of her oversized purple "Saffron University" hoodie, revealing her reddened face, watery eyes and bed-head hair.

"Look at me," he said finally.

She slowly turned her eyes on Jack's face. Her face had tinged with pink from a blush, and Jack wasn't quite sure why. But satisfied he had finally brought her out of her stupor, he waved an airy hand in her direction. "Good. Now go and wash your face, you look a state."

"Oh gee, _thanks_." Ivy grumbled, but obediently slipped out of bed and crossed to the small porcelain sink in the corner of her room and began to run the tap. She had to admit, splashing the ice cold water over her warm, stiff face almost instantly made her feel better. Letting out a contended sigh, she patted her face dry and rejoined Jack on the bed.

"Feel any better?" he asked as she sat next to him.

"A little…" she said truthfully, leaning her head against his shoulder while pulling her legs underneath her chin.

"Going to tell your parents?"

Ivy grimaced. "Eventually, I guess…"

"When are you supposed to be leaving?"

"Monday…" Ivy inwardly cringed as she realised it was already Thursday, knowing all too well how easily the impending date would creep up. "We get our list of Pokemon we need to capture by the time the three months are up, our trainer's licence, and the _one _pack of Pokeballs they provide us with. Then they just shove us out and expect us to be independent for three months,"

Jack blinked. "Ivy, in case you haven't noticed… you've been independent for two _years._"

"I know, but they expect us to camp out and live off the land and all that kinda stuff! With no shops, no warm beds, no facilities…_nothing_!"

"Ivy, have you ever heard of these magical inventions called Pokemon Centres? You know, those mystical places where they give you free food and free lodging if you flash that nifty little trainer's license?"

Ivy frowned and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I hate you, Jack."

"I hate you, too." He said swiftly.

"It's not even all the travelling or the money problems that are worrying me…" she said after a further few moments. "…Well no, they _are _worrying me, just not as much as other stuff… It's more how _lonely _I'm gonna be…"

"Lonely?" Jack frowned. "Aren't there other kids on the course?"

"Yeah, but they'll all probably go off on their own and won't be interested in hanging out with me…"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, you'll have your Pokemon right? When you eventually catch one, right?" he couldn't help but snicker at this.

"Jack, they're expecting us to catch Pokemon _without _having Pokemon to catch Pokemon with!"

"In English, please?"

"You're meant to use Pokemon to battle wild ones to capture them. They're not _providing _us with a starter Pokemon straight away. We're on our own to catch our first one."

"Sucks to be you," Jack said bluntly.

Ivy aimed a weak punch at Jack's midsection, but then collapsed back into leaning on him again, wishing she could just forget all about this horrible situation. She hated it. She honestly hated it. The very thought of it just made her feel totally overwhelmed and terrified. She felt the threat of tears again and sniffed, trying to keep them under control. It proved fruitless though, and fat tears slowly began to cascade down her cheeks again.

Jack looked down at the unusually quiet girl leaning in to his arm. Her face was concealed from his view by her long hair, but he knew it was generally a danger sign when his motor-mouth of a best friend went quiet. "Are you crying again?"

"No." she said thickly.

Jack smirked. "You liar." He repositioned himself once again, and gently turned Ivy's face towards him. Using the cuff of his own "Saffron University" hoodie that he was wearing, he deftly wiped the spilled tears from her face.

"Thanks…" Ivy said weakly. "You really look after me, Jack…"

"Well if I didn't, no-one else will," he said with a smile.

She sniffed again, for some reason looking dangerously like she was about to cry again.

"Besides," Jack decided to rectify this as best he could. "I consider it my honour and privilege to be your babysitter."

Ivy couldn't help but laugh. "You old charmer…"

Jack had managed to cheer her up for a few moments, but it didn't lat long. Her mind slowly turned to ticking over her inevitable upcoming Pokemon journey. She hated the thought of not only being _forced _into this stupid course, but having to either do it _alone _or with a bunch of idiot under-achievers just made the whole thing worse. As she pulled her covers over her again, she disturbed Jack who murmured something unintelligible as he lost his place in his book. But no sooner had Jack spoken, a brilliant idea popped into her head.

"Jack!" she yelled, throwing her duvet down in her excitement.

Jack gave a start, almost dropping his book, not expecting her to holler like that. Breathing out so that he ruffled his thick fringe, he turned to look at his friend who was now sitting on her knees, bouncing up and down on the bed animatedly with a wide grin on her face.

"What is it now?"

"Jack, I've had the best idea ever! Why don't _you _come on the journey with me?"

Jack had to visibly restrain himself for a few seconds at his friend's suggestion. "Ivy, why would I do that? Unlike you, I did _not _fail my second year at university. I have a clean slate to start third year without getting any _extra _credit,"

"You don't have to do the _course_! You don't even have to catch Pokemon! You can just… follow me around for the three months!"

Jack blinked slowly. "Ivy, you _really _need to learn to think before you speak. Why on _earth _would I follow you around for three months while you try to catch Pokemon? Especially when I could basically lie around in my _bed _for those three months in my underwear and do _nothing_."

"Cos it'd be fun? And you love me?"

"You can't play the "because you love me card" any more than once a month, you know the rule," Jack said, flipping his book back open.

"Oh, please, please, please, please, please!" Ivy grabbed his free hand, and rested her head against his shoulder again. "I'll be your best friend?"

Jack let out a sigh and wrestled his arm free. "That card's useless as well, you know that."

"Pleaaase?" she begged.

"I don't know, I'll have to think about it." Jack said, turning another page. "Like I said, the prospect of spending three months in my underpants is still looking pretty attractive."

"Mmmm!" Ivy beat her hand weakly into her bed. "At least come along on Monday with me to see what kind of Pokemon I'm meant to catch! Then make up your mind?"

"Fine, fine…" Jack said, slamming his book shut again. "Jeez, anything to shut you up for ten minutes," he added darkly.

* * *

><p>By the time Monday rolled around, far too quickly in Ivy's honest opinion, Ivy was reluctantly ready to start her three month course. She had been photographed for her ID and license, filled out what seemed like hundreds of forms, including a worrying "disclaimer" that in the event of any "serious injuries, death, or long-lasting psychological conditions", the University of Saffron waived all responsibility. Jack had snickered behind his friend's back as he watched her sign the forms, her face slowly dropping and then contorting angrily.<p>

Ivy's parents had taken the news surprisingly well. In fact, Ivy's mother Hollie, and father Callum, were quite enthusiastic for ditzy young daughter to explore more of the region and take on the responsibilities of Pokemon. Ivy's twenty-three year old sister Lily-Mae was less than enthusiastic, claiming "Pokemon training was nothing to write home about", but her ten year old brother Lewis was ecstatic, begging his older sister to bring him back a Salamence. He was quite disappointed when Jack told him Salamence was only found in Hoenn…

Michaela, Ivy's younger sister, however was less than impressed by the revelation that her older sister was soon to be embarking on her own journey and screamed down the phone that "Ivy wasn't allowed to steal her glory", before cutting the call off, leaving her parents in a bemused wake.

While Ivy was perfectly content to pick up her supplies and her briefing from the Professor of Pokemon Studies by herself, Ivy's parents, Lily-Mae, Lewis and Jack all decided to accompany her. The sign-ups and briefings were held in a small seminar room of the Pokemon Studies Department, and it was filled to the brim with the under-achieving students, their family and friends. Ivy was determined to wait until every last other student had filed out before she went anywhere near the sign-up desk. She spent that time arguing with her older sister and answering question after question from her worried father, while Jack sat in a spare seat, looking more than a little uncomfortable.

While Ivy eventually left to get the final papers, alongside the list of Pokemon she was expected to capture, Ivy's parents approached Jack.

"Jack…" her father ventured warily.

"Yes, Mr McKenzie?" Jack inquired politely.

"Callum, please." Her father said with a smile.

"… Callum…"

Callum McKenzie lowered his voice, bringing the young man in front of him closer. "Listen, I don't mean to be an over-protective father here, but I can't rightly say that I'm not concerned about this whole thing…"

"Dear, I'm sure our Ivy can handle herself." Hollie intercepted, resting a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"I don't doubt that, but you know how… frankly _ditzy _our daughter is," Callum said with a short chuckle. "I'm proud of our daughter for achieving what she has, but three months living on her own with no-one to look out for her is the bit that concerns me."

"Quite honestly, it concerns me too…" Jack said truthfully, as he cast a look back to watch his best friend chase a stray piece of paper halfway across the seminar room.

Callum shifted from foot-to-foot awkwardly. "This is rather difficult of me to ask of you, but I was wondering if it were possible for you to perhaps… _accompany _Ivy for a little while? Just to see how she gets on?"

"Oh dear, we can't ask the boy to take time out of his busy schedule to babysit Ivy!" Hollie sounded horrified at her husband's request.

"I—" Jack began to say, but was interrupted when an enraged voice sprung up from the opposite corner of the room.

"MUM! DAD! Look at this bloody sheet!"

Ivy suddenly appeared next to them, her face twisted in rage, a piece of paper clutched in her clenched fist. "Look at this!" she brandished it at Jack, who took it, perplexed. "Look at the bloody Pokemon I'm supposed to catch!"

'_List of Pokemon Required to Pass the Course_

_1. Shellder_

_2. Cubone_

_3. Venonat_

_4. Vulpix_

_5. Pidgeotto_

_6.__Nidorino _or _Nidorina_

_Pokemon must be presented to the proctors in the condition described, not in pre-evolutions or later evolutions. For example, Pidgeotto may NOT be presented as Pidgey or Pidgeot. Any additional Pokemon captured may also be presented for extra credit."_

"I thought they said it was "common" Pokemon you had to find," Jack asked sceptically, his eyebrow twitching comically.

"So did I!" Ivy wailed.

"What about Pidgeotto and Nidorina?" her dad suddenly ventured, leaning over Jack's shoulder to investigate the sheet of paper. "They're common, aren't they?"

"Well, _Pidgey _and _Nidoran _are!" Ivy wailed. "But you need to spend practically _months _of training and battling to evolve them! I only have three months!"

"Oh…"

"And _where _am I supposed to find Cubone and Vulpix?" Ivy looked ready to tear the paper from Jack's hand, rip it in half and shred it into tiny pieces. "They're _really _rare! And Shellder! They live under the sea, for goodness sake!"

"_Under __the __sea, __under __the __sea! __Darlin__'__, __it__'__s __better __down __where i__t__'__s__—"_

"LEWIS!" Ivy bellowed at her ten year old brother, silencing him almost immediately. He was unable to hide the wicked grin spreading across his face, so thoroughly impressed with himself over successfully annoying his older sister.

"I'm sure you'll manage, darling." Hollie said, putting a hand on her trembling daughter's shoulder. She looked almost like a terrified, overwhelmed little girl and it broke Hollie's heart to see her like this. Lewis and Lily-Mae however, found this whole situation hilarious and giggled like schoolchildren for a good few seconds.

"So, have you got your Trainer License then?" Lily-Mae demanded, elbowing her sister sharply to get her attention..

Ivy delved wordlessly into her pocket and produced a small, thin card, no bigger than a credit card and waved it in Lily-Mae's direction. Lily-Mae snatched the card eagerly, consulted the picture and then burst out into shrieks of laughter. "You look like a serial killer!" she guffawed, whilst Lewis grasped for the card to get a look in.

"Stop that!" Ivy yanked the card from her sister's hand. "So, I should… probably leave now…" she said, with a feeling of ominous dread.

Callum and Hollie exchanged uncomfortable looks. "Where are you going to start?"

"I have no idea…" Ivy groaned. "But the other kids have left already, look…" she feebly pointed out the rapidly disappearing backs of the three other students. "I just feel like I should move."

"How are you gonna catch a Pokemon, Ivy?" Lewis asked animatedly.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Ivy said with a theatrical groan. "I guess I'll just look around here for a bit and see what I can find…"

"So, you're not gonna focus on catching the list Pokemon?" Lewis asked, his wide hazel eyes narrowing in confusion.

"There's no way I can catch any of these without a Pokemon to battle them with," Ivy said with a sigh, wishing she could just crawl into a corner and lock herself away from the world. "Even something like Pidgey is gonna be impossible to catch without something to battle it with…"

"So, what are you gonna do?"

Ivy sighed. "I really don't know…"

Before anyone could offer a solution to her predicament, Ivy's parents realised they had to leave in order to get back to their hometown of Pewter City before the night rolled in. No sooner had the family exchanged some awkward hugs and wished Ivy the best of luck, they packed themselves into the car and left. Jack and Ivy watched the car slowly turn away from the university buildings and onto the main road, disappearing out of sight within a few short moments.

Ivy let out a long, juddering sigh. She was conscious of the fact Jack was standing close to her, but they were both silent. Realising the goodbye she had been dreading for a long time was approaching, she eventually turned around to face Jack. Strangely enough, she felt sadder to say goodbye to her best friend for only three mere months, rather than her own family who she only saw for a few months of the year. She reached out her arms to Jack, but he waved his hands dismissively, frowning.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to hug you?" she said incredulously, marginally insulted.

"Why?"

"Uhh…" Ivy stuttered, looking bemused. "Cos I'm _leaving _for three months?"

"Who said you were leaving on your own?" Jack said with a wicked smile, stepping back. His hand reached into his pocket and he pulled out a thin card. The words _Trainer __License _flashed back at Ivy, who simply stared at the card for a few stunned moments.

"Are… are you serious…?" Ivy whispered.

"I wish I wasn't, but I am."

"Is… is that _real_?" Ivy snatched the card from her best friend and squinted at the name. The name _Jackson __Hartman _was there, sure enough, in black and white for the whole world to see. She almost dropped the card in her shock. "Jack!" she cried out, amazed. "It _is _real! You're _really _becoming a trainer too?"

Jack reached out and plucked his card from his best friend's hand. He said nothing, apart from to flash her a winning smile.

Barely able to contain her excitement, Ivy was practically jumping and down at this stage. "Why, though? Why'd you do it!"

Jack shrugged lightly. "Well, with the inclusion of Pokemon training in _all _schools now, not just Pokemon Academies, job prospects for teachers with _some _degree of experience with Pokemon are _much _better than ordinary teachers."

Ivy would be lying if she said she completely understood _everything _Jack had just told her, but she got the idea. She stood perfectly still for a few moments, her face still a picture of shock and delighted surprise. Finally a wide grin broke out over her face. "You… you… you big… GAH! Jack!" she cried out joyfully, before throwing herself bodily at Jack, wrapping both arms _and _legs around him.

Jack squeaked, his skinny body almost buckling under her weight. All the same, he grasped her tight for a few brief seconds before letting her go. As she settled herself on the ground again, Ivy couldn't help but grin from the rare display of affection Jack had just shown her. As the reality of it all sunk in properly, her heart started beating against her chest, and with a burst of excitement she grabbed Jack's hand and started bouncing up and down.

"Jack! I'm so happy! We're going together!"

"Joyous," Jack said, slipping his hand out of Ivy's and pocketing his new trainer card firmly out of sight.

"Oh, come on. It… it could be fun, right?" Ivy said, but her voice wavered a little. Jack wasn't fooled. He bet that Ivy was only trying to convince _herself _of that matter, not him.

"Yeah, real fun." Jack forced a smile on his face "Waltzing off for three months around Kanto on our own trying to capture Pokemon, when we've never done anything like that before? Yeah, a total _barrel _of laughs."

Ivy grimaced. When Jack put it like that, the situation seemed even more hopeless. Letting out a sigh, she fought the urge to hug Jack for comfort. "Hey, it just… it just feels a _lot _better knowing you're coming with me,"

"Sappy git," Jack smacked her on the top of the head with the back of his hand. "Now come on. Do you want to leave today, or are you just gonna stand here for the next three months?"

Ivy considered this. "Yeah, probably a good idea to start, huh?"

"Not if you want to give yourself any _more_disadvantages_…_" Jack said with a sigh. "I still don't know how we're going to _catch _any Pokemon…"

Ivy sighed, scratching the back of her neck sadly. "I have no idea… I was gonna go look in the parks…"

"Bad idea," Jack said at once. "The Pokemon there are wise enough to stay away from people… We'll never get near one."

"Then what are we gonna do?"

Jack's eyebrow twitched as Ivy let out an anguished wail, like the world was coming to an end. It was times like this he was grateful for his seemingly never-ending supply of patience; a valuable asset for any teacher in training. "Well, Saffron City has four routes leading in and out of it. Routes 5, 6, 7 and 8. Any of those would be a good start to look for some weak Pokemon."

"Oh! That's a good idea!" Ivy's eyes shone excitedly.

"So, which one shall we go for?"

"Umm…" Ivy thought about it. "Route… 5!"

Jack frowned. "Route 5? Any reason why?"

Ivy shrugged. "I don't know. I like the number 5. And doesn't that lead up to Cerulean City? I would _love _to see Cerulean!"

Jack fought to keep a frown off his face. "You do realise you're going looking for Pokemon, not sightseeing!"

"I know, I know, but hear me out! Cerulean is right next to Viridian Forest, right?"

"Right…"

"So! Viridian Forest is full of really weak Bug and Normal types, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"So, we could find the Pidgey and Nidoran we need there."

"You mean _you _need."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Ivy flapped her hands animatedly. "Find a Pidgey, find a Nidoran, _maybe _even find a Venonat! Right?"

"Hmm…" Jack couldn't deny he was impressed at Ivy's knowledge of Pokemon locations in this instance. "I'm surprised you know even that much. Who told you that?"

"Michaela." Ivy said with a grimace. "She never used to shut up about it the first few weeks into her training."

"So, we're basically heading to Viridian Forest, then?"

"Yeah. Like I think we need to start off with the easier Pokemon like the Pidgey and the Nidoran. Venonat to an extent," she added a moment later. "Then once we get a halfway decent team, we can try going for the Cubone and the Vulpix, and then the Shellder!"

Jack nodded. "Well, at least you've planned this all out. I'm impressed."

Ivy stood up a little straighter, puffing her chest out proudly.

"You're forgetting one thing though… This is not a _we _operation." He said, folding his arms firmly. "I don't have to catch a Pidgeotto, or a Cubone or a Shellder or any of them. I can catch whatever I like."

"All right, all right, don't rub it in!" Ivy deflated. "What kind of Pokemon _do _you want to catch then?"

Jack took only the briefest of moments to reply. "…a Rapidash."

Ivy blinked. "A Rapidash? Why?"

Jack's face changed, but only briefly. It completely softened, and his eyes shifted away from Ivy's gaze, as if he was focusing on remembering something. But it was all so brief, and it flickered away almost immediately. "No reason," he said airily. "I just think they're… they're…um…"

"Cool?" Ivy suggested.

"Yeah… that." Jack said stiffly, while Ivy had to suppress a giggle. In the two years she had known Jack she had never known him to use those kinds of slang buzzwords. Even when he was with the pupils on his teaching placements. Ivy had to shake her head fondly at him; he was so innately serious.

"Where are you gonna get one of them, though?" Ivy inquired. "Aren't they pretty rare?"

"I don't know…" Jack said. "All I know is that I have to get one,"

Jack sincerely hoped she would leave the matter at that, and thankfully, his perpetually ditzy best friend proved true to form and quickly got distracted when her attempts to wrench open the pack of Pokeballs she had been given resulted in the six capsules spilling all over the floor and rolling off in separate directions.

Jack frowned after his friend as she scrambled to collect the spilled Pokeballs. "You're hopeless. You're not gonna survive three months out on your own,"

"I _will _survive, cos _you__'__re _gonna be there watching out for me," Ivy mumbled, attempting to retrieve a capsule that had rolled under the table.

"Don't bet on it," Jack said with a sigh. "Honestly, it's like babysitting a giant child…"

"Better get used to it, you're gonna spend your _whole _life dealing with kids!" Ivy said, getting to her feet again, arms full of Pokeballs.

"Kids I can deal with. You, I cannot."

"Aww, cheer up," Ivy grinned, stuffing the Pokeballs into her backpack. "Let's just get a move on and head for Route 5. Think we can make it up to Cerulean before nightfall."

"Are you kidding me?" Jack said, frowning. "It could take us _days _to reach Cerulean. We're gonna have to camp out overnight _at __least_."

Ivy looked crushed. "But I _hate _sleeping outside!"

"You're not the only one," Jack deadpanned. "This is why I _wish _I'd passed my driving test last year… It would only take us a few hours…"

"Oh, yeah, you failed didn't you?" Ivy snickered.

"Hey, it was not my fault some idiot was tailgating me and I had to change lanes so quickly…"

"Yeah, but it _was _your fault you almost rear-ended a Mercedes…"

"Well, _what _idiot slows down to 40 in a 50 zone when there's a car moving in behind him?" Jack fumed, his fists clenched fiercely.

"Jack, Jack, easy!" Ivy giggled. "Come on. We're wasting too much time hanging around here. Shall we go?"

"I guess so…" Jack said, shouldering a massive bag he had up until now conveniently stashed out of Ivy's sight. He let out another groan when he thought about what the next few months would entail for him. "Come on. Let's just get this whole thing _over _with."

"Sounds like a plan to me…" Ivy said lightly enough, but still grimacing at the thought. "_Just __keep __focused, __Ivy._" She told herself._ "__This __is __for __your __degree. __You __need __to __do __this __to __pass __your __degree. __So __just __relax__… __take __a __deep __breath__… __and __think __about __the __degree._"

With that, Ivy McKenzie and Jack Hartman officially embarked on their way. Their destination now set at Viridian Forest in search for the first few Pokemon on Ivy's list, the two friends were feeling at least marginally better at having a goal to achieve. Ivy however knew deep down in her heart that this was not going to be an easy task, and her worry seemed to only intensify with every step they took through the bustling suburbs of Saffron City. Letting out a long exhale, she focused herself and pushed onwards, wondering what the hell was waiting for her in the immediate future as a fledgling Pokemon trainer.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Hello everyone! Second chapter of Master's Degree here for you! I hope you enjoy!**

**I know it's been pretty talk-y this chapter and last, but the proper journey starts next chapter :)**

**I'm so thankful for all the awesome reviews I got! Shoutouts go to Sniper Mudkip, See That Guy, MasterFreezeman, Shadow of Eckhart, Kopycat101, Sunbean, Zoeten, Chaison, Splashstorm, Something Dictionary Related and Sapphire'sDestiny. **

**Zoeten, just for clarification, this isn't really a "school" or "college" or "university" fic. Very little of it will be set in university, so it is more of a journey fic. **

**Extra thanks go to the lovely members of Sunbean's forum :) **

**Please read and review, guys :)**


	3. Versus Pidgey and Rattata

**Chapter 3  
><strong>**Versus Rattata and Pidgey**

After a mere twenty minutes of walking across the bustling streets of the metropolis that was Saffron City, Ivy was already bored and trailing her feet, and had slowed to an infuriatingly slow, trudging speed. Jack was steadily growing more and more irritable with her as her constant moans about being tired reached annoyingly high-pitched tones, dripping with self-pity. Casting a weary look in her direction as they dilly-dallied at a road crossing, Jack sighed and eventually gave in, choosing, quite foolishly, to indulge her.

"Ivy, you can't be tired _already. _We're not even halfway across the city yet."

"Not even halfway!" Ivy repeated shrilly, her eyes bulging in horror.

"No," Jack said in a strained voice. He didn't dare tell her that in order to reach the edge of the city where the grassy Route 5 first began; they'd have to criss-cross practically the entire length of the massive city of Saffron, a feat which could probably take them the better part of three hours on foot.

"You know, I thought we would have seen some Pokemon by now." Ivy said as conversationally as she could manage as they crossed the street.

Jack shook his head. "We're in the middle of a city, Ivy. Pokemon don't hang around in street corners and dodge in and out of roads. If we're lucky we'll see the occasional Pidgey _way _up in the sky, but that's about it."

Ivy let out a theatrical groan. "But Jack, I gotta find a Pokemon _somewhere_."

"Better to wait until we get onto Route 5, then," Jack said as lightly as he could muster, as they made their way up a tight alleyway and emerged onto another bustling street. "We might find some weak baby Pokemon there, and if luck stays on our side, we might be able to catch them."

"Aww!" Despite herself, Ivy's eyes widened at the thought of weak, helpless baby Pokemon being ripped from the protective embrace of their families. "Isn't that cruel?"

"Well it's either that or no Pokemon whatsoever." Jack said firmly, privately thinking that if Ivy considered ambushing weak Pokemon "cruel", she was going to have a lot of difficulty dealing with the more "conventional" ways of catching normal, healthy Pokemon in the wild. He grimaced as another thought struck him. "Honestly, the idea of expecting someone to catch a Pokemon by themselves is ridiculous…"

Seeing an opportunity to complain and fume and rage over the injustices she felt she was enduring, Ivy pounced on it with vicious abandon. "Yeah, and the Pokemon themselves are rare!" she cried angrily. "Vulpix, Shellder, Cubone? I know people that have searched for _years _looking for them."

The two friends continued loudly expressing their various woes and concerns for a further ten minutes, reluctantly dragging their feet across the monotonous grey and black streets. Eventually, annoyance got the better of even Jack, who normally prided himself on having seemingly endless supplies of patience, and he quickly made an executive decision. It was obvious that if they insisted on walking the entire city, they would never make it to Route 5 by nightfall. Jack then realised it would be in their best interests to double back and catch the bus from Saffron City bus terminal which, after an hour's journey, would drop them right at the outskirts of Route 5.

The journey was pleasant enough for the two friends. The bus was relatively empty, with only a handful of passengers alongside Ivy and Jack. Ivy was strangely quiet the entirety of the journey and Jack found himself thankful for the silence. He was also grateful for the chance to absorb the scenery, knowing it would be a long time before he was back in the familiar territory of his home city, and also for being able to be alone with his thoughts for a little while. However, at the same time, he couldn't help but be concerned over his unusually silent friend. At first he assumed she really _was_ tired, and offered her his shoulder to sleep on, but she refused, shaking her head animatedly. Her eyes were alert and shiny and she seemed content enough; there was no sign of visible depression or upset marring her face. Jack couldn't help but think about it on-and-off consistently through the course of the journey. Eventually he surmised that perhaps his friend needed to be alone with her thoughts just as much as he wanted to.

She didn't perk up until the bus trundled into its last stop before it was due to turn around and head back into Saffron City. Jack and Ivy left the now empty bus, engaging in excited small talk as to what was awaiting them on Route 5 and continued on foot towards the Route. It was simple enough to get there. They followed a small path until they reached the unmistakable figure of the gates that served to separate all major Kanto and Johto cities from the dangerous, Pokemon ridden and often rarely traversed natural routes. They slipped through the gate, offering the bored-looking guard a smile, before officially emerging out into Route 5.

"So," Jack murmured no sooner had they stepped back out into the sun. He briefly stared around the unfamiliar territory, taking it all in within a matter of seconds. "What do we do now?"

Ivy couldn't even reply. Her surroundings had her shocked into silence. She had never seen so much green in all her life, and was completely and utterly transfixed by the strangeness of it all. Even living so close toViridianForest, Ivy had never even set so much as one solitary foot in there. Growing up in the grey surroundings of Pewter City, and then studying in Saffron, one of the biggest cities in the whole of Kanto, Ivy was not accustomed to country surroundings, and the sight of so much green unnerved her. Everywhere she looked she saw thick lush grass waving lazily in the wind, saucer-shaped flowers in every colour and hue imaginable, rolling hills that seemed to go on as far as the eye could see, just giant slabs of varying shades of interlocking, patchwork green, with the occasional silvery thread weaving through it, and trees that looked so strong and wise she imagined they could have been standing there since the beginning of time.

"You know, a thought just occurred to me…" Jack said, crossing to stand next to his gawping friend, still engrossed in the natural beauty around them. "If our destination is Viridian Forest, we should have just got a ride with your parents."

"Huh?" Ivy came out of her momentary stupor at Jack's words. She considered it, before shaking her head vehemently. "No… not a lot of Pokemon live around Pewter City, and heading into Viridian Forest without Pokemon to protect you is suicide… We're better catching _something _beforehand to protect us. And I don't see many Pokemon living around Pewter City…"

Jack let out an annoyed grunt before falling to the ground, heaving off his giant bag. Ivy took a seat next to him, glad to also relieve the pressure on her back from her own bag. They'd only been off the bus for ten minutes, but the strain from the weight of their bags was already starting to get the better of both of them. Jack glanced at his watch. "Three o'clock," he stated, letting his arm fall to the ground.

"Only three, huh…?" Ivy said thoughtfully. She felt like so much had gone on today that she naturally assumed it would be much later in the day…

"Well, we can do one of two things," Jack said, letting out a fatigued sigh. "We can go looking for Pokemon _or _we can make our way up to Cerulean."

"What kinds of Pokemon live around here?" Ivy asked.

"Don't ask me, I'm not a Pokedex." Jack quipped at once, stretching his arms and sighing in relief when he felt his back click satisfyingly.

Ivy let out another sigh, fighting the urge to collapse her head in her hands. "Well, to be honest, I really can't be bothered travelling any more. I'm too tired for it."

"You were on a bus for an hour…" Jack pointed out.

"That's still tiring," Ivy said with finality, and after a few thoughtful minutes, she came to a decision. "I think I want to look for some Pokemon."

Jack groaned at his friend's suggestion, but reluctantly pushed himself to his feet. "I had a feeling you would say that…"

"Well, I gotta find _something_!" Ivy appealed.

"I know, darling, I know." Jack said, stretching his words out into a slow, easy drawl. "Let's go and look then,"

"Yay!" Ivy cheered, finally managing to muster up some enthusiasm at the thought of taking the first step of her task. She would be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to capturing her first Pokemon, despite all the worries and concerns associated with it. She had already begun to warm up to the thought of having her own little Pokemon following her around, looking up to her and loving her unconditionally. She was quite content with her romantic notion of Pokemon training, still blissfully unaware of the problems it could potentially cause her.

However, Jack and Ivy were quick to discover searching for Pokemon was not as easy as they expected it to be. Both young adults knew a little about Pokemon and their habitats, but their knowledge didn't go further than what the average person possessed. The average person knew however that undisturbed terrain, patches of tall grass, deep forestry and places that weren't normally frequented by humans, were generally goldmines for finding Pokemon. They had heard many stories of friends and relatives finding Pokemon with ease and practically no effort in those kinds of places, and the two of them held more hope for finding Pokemon than either of them dared to admit. Luckily, there was a thick expanse of forestry hedging a long stretch of the route that both young adults suggested would be a good place to start.

As they tensely slipped through thick undergrowth and weaved through a maze of outstretched branches, a thought suddenly occurred to Ivy.

"Jack…"

"Quiet!" he hissed at once. "Are you trying to scare the Pokemon away?"

"Sorry," she lowered her voice straight away "But I was just thinking… if you're going to capture Pokemon too…"

"Yes…?"

"Don't you need Pokeballs?"

"That _is _generally how it works, isn't it?" he retorted, sweeping aside a thick branch lying in their path.

Ivy nodded. "But do you even _have _any Pokeballs yet? I didn't see any in your bags, or see you buy any."

"No, I don't have any." He said, shaking his head, peering in the gloomy darkness. The expanse of trees had perfectly closed off all natural light above their heads, so only the merest trickle of sunlight was getting in to illuminate their paths. "I was planning on getting them when we reached Cerulean. I didn't figure I would need any up till now."

"Oh…"

"But if I _do _need them, surely I can just steal one of yours?"

"No!" Ivy squeaked, grabbing the Pokeballs still stored in the oversized pocket of her hooded jumper protectively. "They're mine!"

"Easy love, I _was _joking," he flashed her a toothy smile, but it was lost in the darkness of their inky black surroundings. He couldn't help but shiver slightly at the sight of an old, bare wizened branch of a tree that looked suspiciously like a skeletal hand as it came into his vision. Jack certainly wasn't as brave as he would have liked to have come across as. "Come on; let's just focus on this for now."

"Yeah…" Ivy murmured, feeling all of a sudden overwhelmed and more than a little frightened by the creepy shadows cast by the thin, brittle branches of some of the dead trees. "This place does kind of creep me out a little,"

"Me too," Jack had to admit.

Ivy opened her mouth to say something else, but all of a sudden, a violent rustle of leaves somewhere overhead caused both Ivy and Jack to screech. They grabbed a hold of each other and whipped their heads up, just in time to see a collection of small dark shapes fly straight above their heads!

"Pi…Pidgey, right?" Ivy cried as soon as the dark shapes disappeared, praying she had identified them right and they weren't something altogether more sinister.

"Yeah…" Jack replied breathlessly, his heart beating hard in his chest. "Just… just… Pidgey. Come on, let's keep going…" he tugged on Ivy's hand and the two of them, linked together, continued on their way through the forest.

However, not for very long.

A branch snapped somewhere behind them and both Ivy and Jack shrieked. In her haste to get away from wherever the noise was coming from, Ivy pushed forward, trying to get past Jack, but in the process, caused him to be knocked off balance. With a high pitched screech, he felt himself falling backwards. Reaching out to grasp whatever he could, his hand closed around Ivy's wrist. In a moment of wild panic, she screamed as she felt something seize her wrist, her mind suddenly filled with wild scenarios of monsters and spirits reaching out to grab her and take her away to be killed in all manner of horrendous and vicious ways. His efforts to steady himself proved futile and Jack toppled straight onto his back, taking down a couple of thick branches with him. With an ear-pitching howl, Ivy somehow managed to twist herself in mid-air as she too fell, and landed square on Jack's skinny chest.

After the two of them calmed down from their initial fright and the fall, they took one look at the position they were in and burst into peals of giggles. Ivy was sprawled comically across Jack in a most undignified and unladylike manner. She reckoned in fact it looked like they had been caught in the middle of a _very _suggestive act, and it only made her laugh harder.

Eventually the two friends calmed themselves down and were able to survey their position with slightly more maturity. "Wow… this is a compromising position…" Ivy said with a giggle, but making no effort to move in the slightest. "Hope no-one finds us like this…"

"It's been a long time since I've been in this position with a _girl_, I'll say that for sure." Jack was chuckling merrily, no doubt at some memory long buried in the depths of his mind.

Ivy slapped him hard on the chest. "Don't be so vulgar!" she scolded him, but she was still fighting to keep the corners of her mouth from turning up into a smile.

"It's the truth!" he protested, giving her a tiny shove in retaliation.

"Yeah, well you don't need to—"

"Ra?"

Ivy was cut off mid-sentence as an unfamiliar voice suddenly and sharply permeated the air around them. Craning their necks, they turned around with great difficulty to look in the direction of the voice. Just barely illuminated by the thin beams of light, the two friends were able to see a small, purple Pokemon sitting on its haunches a few feet away from them. It remained completely still, nose and whiskers twitching as it watched the two humans entangled in grass and leaves intently and with great interest.

"That's a Rattata…" Ivy said slowly.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Jack grunted. He was starting to feel conscious of Ivy's sharp, pointy elbow that was now embedded firmly in his chest. She seemed to be using him as a tool to prop herself up to get a better look at the small purple Pokemon watching them. She was deathly silent for a few moments, before a look of pure, unmitigated,eager excitement flashed across her face.

"No… I mean, that's a _Rattata_!" she cried.

Before Jack could protest or even _process _what was going on, Ivy had leapt to her feet, jammed her hand into her hooded jumper and had pulled out a Pokeball. Finally understanding what his friend was about to do, he let out a panicked shout of "No! Ivy, don't do that!"

Ivy took no notice of her friend's warning and hurled the Pokeball with as much force as she could muster straight in the Rattata's direction. The Rattata screeched at the incoming projectile, but instead of running away like Jack quickly anticipated, the Pokemon instead turned on its heel and forcefully batted the Pokeball straight back at Ivy. The Pokeball sailed away with surprising power, coming to a heavy stop only a few feet from where Ivy was currently standing. Ivy nervously locked eyes with the rat Pokemon and instantly, a cold sweat erupted over her body. That Rattata looked _mad._

Jack caught sight of the Rattata too and swore. He knew what was coming next.

What felt like only a millisecond later, the purple furry creature hurled itself at Ivy, clawing and squeaking angrily. Screaming at the suddenness of it all, she fell on her back, valiantly trying to wrestle the writhing Rattata off her, but with no success. All she got for her trouble was a vicious Bite to her hand that drew beads of ruby blood from the teeth marks. Jack let out another curse as he saw his best friend fall, scrambled to his feet, and yanked the purple rat off her with only minor difficulty. He set the screeching rat down as carefully as he could, which immediately took off as soon as its paws touched terra firma once more. Ivy sat up straight away, looking terrified. Blood was spilling from the bite on her hand, beads of blood stood out on her face from the thin, rake-like scratches and unshed tears were glittering in her eyes

"Ivy, you idiot!" Jack hauled Ivy to her feet, squinting in the soft light to see the damage on her face. "You should know better than to throw a Pokeball at a healthy Pokemon! They'll resist capture, just like that."

"I… I couldn't help it…" She was trembling, and her voice was cracking ominously. She sounded like she was completely in shock.

"Just follow me," he told her firmly, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her out of the small forest to the makeshift campsite they had set up near a small rivulet of water. She followed without protest, letting him lead her carefully through the various obstacles in their paths.

As they reached their tiny campsite, Jack sat Ivy down forcefully, noticing that she was still trembling, before diving straight into his own bag, looking for a cloth and some bandages.

He couldn't help but grimace at the thin, painful looking scratches raked across Ivy's face and the bite mark embedded in her hand. Quickly, he got to work and doused the cloth he was holding in some water from a bottle they had originally saved for drinking. He started to dab at the cuts with the damp cloth, but Ivy's hand closed around it instead, taking it from him, rather forcefully, he thought.

"I can do it myself…" Her voice was hoarse, but determined. She said nothing else, but began mopping up the spilled blood from her face and hand.

Perplexed at her behaviour, Jack sat back on his haunches, and ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair. He knew better than to argue with her, and instead busied himself by handing over a collection of bandages and antiseptic wipes to his friend. She remained stubbornly quiet as she struggled to open up an antiseptic wipe, but took none of the help Jack offered to her. She didn't even make eye contact with Jack until the blood was wiped from her face, her hand was cleaned and bandaged and until she let the bloody cloth fall to the ground with no intention of using it any further.

Jack, who had been up until this point had been pretending to be fascinated by the darkening afternoon sky, was quickly jolted back into his sentences as Ivy put the cloth down. He winced at the amount of blood it had collected, but quickly caught Ivy's gaze, who seemed to have calmed down considerably.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly.

Ivy responded by letting out a quick, hastened sigh. Her face which had just moments ago seemed cool and collected now was struggling to conceal anger and frustration. "That was a pretty stupid move, wasn't it?" her voice was thick and choked, but unmistakably tinged with anger.

"A little," Jack couldn't lie. "But you were excited, you know? I can't really blame you for being a little…"

"Stupid?" Ivy offered.

Jack winced at her harsh tones. "Don't be like that, Ivy. Don't worry; we'll find other Pokemon,

"Will we?" Ivy snorted sceptically. "Look at us, Jack! We're in the middle of Route 5 for goodness sake! Look at all the trees and the bushes and the rivers! Pokemon are supposed to live in _all _those places, but we've found nothing apart from that one stupid Rattata that almost took my face off!"

"Well to be fair, we've only been looking for about an hour…"

"No!" Ivy cried dramatically. "We're _never _going to find anything!"

"Ivy, don't get so discouraged. We _will _find—"

"No, we won't!" By this time, big fat tears were rolling down Ivy's face. "This is hopeless, Jack! I'm not going to pass this damn course! It's impossible!"

"It's not impossible, Ivy." Jack tried to keep his voice calm and encouraging, like when he was coaxing a reluctant child into carrying out a difficult task. However, this seemed to only aggravate Ivy further.

"It _is_!" she cried, suddenly jumping to her feet. Her shouts were so loud and so angry that a flock of frightened Pidgey took flight from the trees nearby. "It's not gonna work, Jack!

Knowing his friend was quickly working herself into hysterics, Jack realised he had to calm her down quickly. He got to his feet immediately, strode straight up to her and grabbed her by the arms. "Ivy! Calm down!" he didn't raise his voice, but firmed and lowered his tone of voice like he had been taught to do when implementing discipline with children. For a moment, she faltered, and Jack thought it had worked. But suddenly her face twisted into even worse rage than before.

"No!" she screeched, wrenching her arms away. She backed away quickly, before turning around, completely facing away from him. When she spoke again, her voice was noticeably calmer but wavering and jumpy, like she was about to burst into tears. "I just… I just… I just need to be on my own for a while."

"Ivy!" Jack protested as soon as Ivy broke into a run. "Ivy! Get back here, now!"

She paid him no attention, and took off towards one of the thick expanses of trees nearby. He could have sworn he heard her sobbing as she ran. Groaning angrily, he sunk his head into his hands. This was one of the rare moments he actively disliked his best friend. She was far too easily discouraged, and as soon as one little thing went negatively for her she lost all hope and instantly became depressed. Letting out an impatient snort, he paced back and forth furiously for a while to work out his pent-up frustration. His patience rarely failed him, and as an innately serious young man, it took a lot to make him flustered or angry. However, Ivy was one of those rare things that could and most definitely _would _frustrate him…

After eventually working out his anger, a thought occurred to him. Ivy had left behind the Pokeball she had attempted to use on the Rattata in the forest, and since she only had six Pokeballs to work with, and a limited budget, she couldn't really afford to waste it. For a moment, he wavered, debating about going in there himself to get it, or simply waiting until Ivy calmed down so she could get it herself. However, realising it could be quite some time before Ivy calmed down, and not really wanting to leave the Pokeball lying out in the open, he decided to retrieve it himself.

After entering the small forest it took him only a few moments to find the discarded Pokeball lying idly in a bed of leaves. He had to admit he was glad he had found it. Those things were only single use. If it failed to capture a Pokemon once, it was basically useless. Pokeballs were expensive too. The kind of expensive that two poor university students couldn't afford. A wasted Pokeball was practically like pouring money down a drain. Jack certainly didn't want his friend to have any _more _disadvantages; this whole thing was tough enough on her as it was.

He bent down to pick up the Pokeball, savouring the feel of the unfamiliar cool metal. He couldn't help but marvel at the feeling of it in his hand. It felt so strange and alien to him, like he wasn't quite sure it was his place to hold one. The feeling brought back so many nostalgic memories; memories he had thought he had long buried in the depths of his mind. It had been such a long time since he'd held a Pokeball. He hadn't held one since he was a small child. A small child with so much hope and anticipation for a future that was never destined to be his…

Well until now, that is…

Pocketing it, he turned on his heel to leave and catch up to Ivy. However, no sooner had he taken a step forward, a low cooing sounded somewhere above his head. He whipped his head up at the noise and came face-to-face with a small, plump, brown and cream bird, with bright intelligent eyes. It was clinging to an overhead branch, looking intently at the human invading its territory. Jack stopped in his tracks as soon as he locked his gaze with the Pokemon, unsure what to do.

"Pidgey! Pidgey!" it trilled cheerfully.

Jack blinked and took an experimental step forward, expecting the Pidgey to take flight at the sudden movement, but it remained firmly clinging to its branch. It cooed again, its head bobbing up and down comically, its head cocking from side to side.

"What?" Jack asked the Pidgey, wondering why it was staring at him.

"Pidgey-Pidgey!" the Pidgey crooned.

"I don't have anything for you," Jack patted down his empty pockets as if to verify the fact he had nothing of interest for the bird Pokemon. "Sorry…"

The Pidgey cooed again, and Jack felt a stab of guilt at its happy chirrups. Privately, he found himself wishing he had a scrap of bread or some Pokemon food pellets (or whatever Pidgey ate) to feed the tiny Pokemon. Even for a Pidgey, which he knew to be very small Pokemon normally, this one seemed to be particularly small, almost doll-sized. It cooed and trilled again, this time with a flap of its tiny wings. Jack took another tentative step forward, and as he moved, the Pidgey took flight. He gasped in shock as the Pidgey was suddenly zooming straight for him! For a second, he wholly anticipated the sharp beak or feet of the Pidgey to come into painful contact with his face, but with a flutter of wings, the tiny bird landed firmly, but harmlessly, on Jack's shoulder.

Completely taken aback by the tiny Pokemon's presence on his shoulder, Jack froze. The tiny Pokemon chirruped and tweeted happily, nudging its beak into the soft flesh of Jack's neck. For a few seconds, Jack didn't know what to do. The bird seemed happy enough perched on Jack like he was a tree branch, and even when Jack walked a few paces, it remained stubbornly attached. Jack eventually got brave enough to reach up and tickle the Pidgey gently on its underbelly, and the Pidgey chirruped at the physical touch.

"Huh… you're kinda cute…" Jack said out loud, despite himself.

"Pidgey! Pidgey!" it trilled back.

Jack chuckled, reached up and cupped his hands around the Pidgey. The Pidgey didn't protest at being picked up; in fact it was quite the opposite. Jack brought the Pidgey to his chest in an almost protective manner. The Pidgey cooed happily, ruffling its plumage. It seemed content nestled in the cupped hands and protective embrace of the human.

To say Jack was surprised at the behaviour of this Pokemon would have been an understatement. He had never known wild Pokemon to act so friendly. The thought of letting the little thing go, especially when it seemed so attached to him actually made a pang of sadness reverberate through him. Yes, he knew it was only a Pidgey. They were generally thought of as unimpressive and common, just like every other Pidgey in the world. There were _thousands _of Pidgey in every city and every route in the whole of Kanto. He could easily capture a Pidgey if he so wanted at any other time and in any other place. He knew that, yet for some reason, the idea of letting this Pidgey go and just capturing another one was the last thing he wanted to entertain.

A thought suddenly struck Jack. He was suddenly very conscious of the Pokeball he had lodged in the pockets of his jeans. He looked the baby Pidgey once more in the eyes. It chirruped merrily as Jack tickled it with one finger again. It flapped its wings enthusiastically and nuzzled its beak into Jack's outstretched finger.

"Pidgey! Pidgey!" it trilled.

"Pity…" Jack said softly, shifting the Pidgey's weight to only one hand as the other slowly lowered into the pocket of his jeans. "I seem to have become far too attached to you to let you go…"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Liam, an old school friend of mine, who was tragically killed last week. R.I.P Liam, you are sorely missed. **

**Thanks to my reivewers, Sapphire's Destiny, Shadow of Eckhart, Master Freezeman, Something Dictionary Related, Koypcat101, WildCroconaw, Crown of Gold, Chaison, Sunbean, TwewyReaperGirl, Splashstorm and Zoeten. **

**I can't really answer your questions as I don't want to give away too much of the plot! **

**Please read and review, guys :)**


	4. Politics and New Travelling Partners?

**Chapter 4  
>Politics and New Travelling Partners?<strong>

Jack was more than a little surprised when on his eventual return to the campsite he spotted Ivy sitting on a nearby log, slowly sipping at a bottle of water. Jack stopped in his tracks when he saw his friend. He certainly hadn't expected her to have calmed down and returned so quickly. Immediately his mind started to race and panic took hold of him. Had he spent more time dawdling in that forest with the Pidgey than he thought?

The Pidgey…

He cringed. The thought of having to explain all this to Ivy made him want to turn around and go straight back into the forest and not come out again. However, knowing his friend was likely to still be upset, he forced his feet forward. This knowledge however still did nothing to calm his nerves.

He took a seat opposite her. "Are you feeling any better?"

"… a little…" she said stiffly.

"Good, I'm glad."

She mumbled something unintelligible and rested her head on her hand. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry I got all… angsty…"

"You're forgiven, my dear." Jack accepted the apology gracefully and smoothly.

Ivy nodded, before raising her red face to look at him. "So… what were you doing in that forest…?"

Jack swallowed, knowing this was going to be incredibly difficult to say. He couldn't accurately judge how Ivy was going to react to this. "Well… I thought I better go and get the Pokeball you lost…" Jack trailed off, not sure how to continue.

Ivy shot her friend a suspicious look. "I'm sensing a "but" here,"

"You know me too well…" Jack said with a forced laugh. He delved into the pocket of his jeans and brought out the Pokeball, in its minimized form. With a click of the button he maximized it until it was the size of a baseball. He then tossed it lightly to the ground.

Ivy cried out in surprise as the Pokeball opened. For a moment, she didn't know what to expect. She didn't even know what was _happening._

"Oh my God," she squealed as she caught sight of the tiny Pokemon that escaped from it. "Jack! Where did you…?"

Jack chuckled as the Pidgey jumped onto his shoulder and began cooing happily. "Ivy, meet Phoenix."

"…Phoenix…?" Ivy repeated incredulously. "Jack… that's a _Pidgey._"

"I know it's a Pidgey. I'm not _that _clueless, you know?"

"I know, but you don't call a Pidgey "Phoenix", it just doesn't fit!"

"It will do when he evolves!"

Ivy gawped. "I… I can't believe this. You caught a _Pidgey. _A Pidgey! With my Pokeball! Oh my God, you caught a Pidgey! You caught a _Pokemon _before me!"

"Sorry," Jack apologised as humbly as he could.

Ivy let out a theatrical groan. "I don't believe this… I don't believe this at _all. _How can someone who's not even doing the _course _that they _have t_o pass catch a Pokemon before me! It's not fair!"

"Easy, Ivy, easy." Jack comforted his friend. "I only caught this Pidgey because it _wanted _to be caught. And look on the bright side, okay? Now that we have a Pokemon, it'll be much easier to catch one for you."

"Jack…" Ivy looked nervously at the tiny baby Pidgey on Jack's shoulder. "No offence, but I don't think that thing can even _fly_, let alone fight and take down other Pokemon,"

"Hey!" Jack recoiled, insulted. "Phoenix can handle himself just fine. Well… at least, he _will_. When I train him up a little."

"Do you even know _how_to train Pokemon?"

"W-well! Not—not really. But how difficult can it be?"

"Famous last words," Ivy quipped.

Jack opened his mouth to recover with a snappy retort, but it was at this moment that Phoenix the Pidgey chose to take flight. With a flap of his tiny wings, he propelled himself into the air. Jack cried out in fright, half-expecting the young Pidgey to fly away and escape, but it only remained airborne for a few seconds. It landed firmly on Ivy's shoulders, nudging his beak into her reddened cheek. Ivy froze.

"Jack… What's it doing?" she hissed, her whole body completely immobile apart from her eyes which darted comically from the Pidgey to Jack, and then back again.

"He likes you," Jack said with a smile.

"… _why_?"

"Why does anyone like you?" Jack teased, and had it not been for the Pidgey on her shoulders, Ivy would have reached out and punched Jack for that. Instead, she compromised by snapping "shut up Jack!" with as much vehemence as she could muster.

Jack smiled, before remembering that the two of them still had a goal to achieve. Clearing his throat, he spoke up again. "So, shall we get going up to Cerulean?"

Ivy frowned, casting a glance up at the sky. It had already been a long day, and she was already exhausted. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go traipsing off to Cerulean right now. "What time is it?" she inquired.

Jack consulted the time on his watch. "A little after five,"

Ivy pretended to consider this, but in reality, her mind was already made up. "It might be a little late to start travelling now," she mused, shooting Jack a defiant look. "It'll be getting dark soon. I don't really want to travel when it's dark,"

"Fair enough," Jack said with a swift nod, while whistling for Phoenix. The Pidgey flapped over to Jack, settling down comically on his head. "Shall we set up camp, then?"

Time passed slowly as the two friends set up their campsite. Neither of the young adults had had much experience with erecting tents, and their initial results were pitiful to say the least. Eventually, their patience grew thin with it, and they decided to leave the tent in its bag and sleep under the stars, knowing that with it being summer, the nights would still be pleasantly warm. Their attempts to start a fire however, proved surprisingly much more fruitful, and they were able to cook a small dinner of soup and bread which they ate with much appreciation. Even Phoenix the Pidgey was appeased, gobbling up the stray crumbs of bread that fell to the ground.

Ivy watched the baby Pidgey as it hopped around their campsite while she was chewing thoughtfully on a piece of bread. She had to admit that the little thing was cute, and she was happy that Jack had been able to catch a Pokemon with so little difficulty, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't jealous. She had wanted to be the first one to catch a Pokemon. It only felt right that she should, being the one who had to go through this stupid course in the first place. At the same time however, she knew that Jack was right in what he had said earlier. Having Phoenix the Pidgey would be an advantage to them when it did come time for Ivy to catch a Pokemon, she knew that, but she still felt bitterly jealous that Jack had gotten there first…

The route was quiet all night. Neither Jack nor Ivy saw a single other person traversing there that night. Both young adults found this strange, as it was fast approaching the deadline for achieving badges to compete in this year's Indigo League and had anticipated routes to be filled with trainers running to and from the cities collecting their last badges, or looking for battles.

The League was an interesting point. There had been many shake-ups in the world of Pokemon training in the past few years, Ivy remembered. The Kanto League had started offering a lot of money to trainers who took part as an incentive to draw more people to it, and after a series of protests two years ago; there had been a radical upheaval in the way Pokemon training operated. For a while there had been worrying talk of the legal age to raise Pokemon to increase to sixteen, alongside attaining a certain degree of education. However, after many protests from the League Champions, Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members, particularly Lance, the Dragon Master and former champion of Kanto, they had reached a compromise. Now generally children had to wait if they were fourteen, but if they attended a Pokemon Academy specifically for the purpose of becoming trainers, and received good grades, they could be "fast-tracked" and be allowed to embark earlier. Assuming they had written consent from their parents, that is. Ivy's sister Michaela had not attended such a school, and thereby had to wait until she was fourteen. And even when she reached fourteen, Ivy's parents had not been comfortable with sending her out at that age, and had forced her to wait another year.

Ivy thought about this for a little while. There had even been talk of _banning_Pokemon training altogether, if she remembered rightly. There had been protests by the Anti Pokemon Protestors all over Johto after the events of Team Plasma in the Unova region some time ago, but thankfully the incident had been contained. However, it had raised worrying questions about the statistics of injuries and deaths caused by Pokemon training, and the age requirement had been raised subsequently. Many people had been outraged, especially the current Champion of Kanto and Johto. Ivy remembered a speech he had made in the aftermath of the incident. He had started his training at the tender age of ten, and had risen to become champion after several years of region-hopping and intense training. Ivy wasn't quite sure what she considered better. To start young and fresh before you had any other responsibilities to deal with, but run the risk of accident and injury because of inexperience and childishness, or to begin when you were older, wiser and able to handle yourself, but likely to have outgrown the notion and have adopted a new goal in life…

"Hey, earth to Ivy!" Jack suddenly waved his hand in front of Ivy's face, making her snap forcefully back into the present. "Where did you go? What are you thinking about?"

"… Politics…" Ivy said, a little dumbfounded.

"Politics?" Jack frowned, wrinkling his nose. He then pressed his hand to her forehead. "You sure you're feeling okay?" he joked.

"Just fine, thank you," she said, huffily sweeping his hand off her. "I was just thinking—"

"Don't hurt yourself,"

"Jack!" Ivy said sharply.

"Sorry," he smirked, as Phoenix fluttered onto his shoulder again.

It was getting late now, the sky was slowly starting to tinge with deep blue, and the sun was sinking into the horizon, casting multi-coloured hues everywhere. Even as Ivy thought this, she stifled a yawn.

Jack looked at his friend sympathetically, while passing Phoenix another small piece of bread. "Tired…?"

"A little…" she admitted.

"It's been a long day," he said with a nod. "Maybe it is best to get some sleep. We can travel to Cerulean tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ivy said noncommittally, her eyes inexplicably drawn to the darkened horizon far off in the distance. "Tomorrow…" she said musingly, wondering what exactly would be waiting for her in the still unknown city of Cerulean.

* * *

><p>The two friends left early the following morning, much to Ivy's distaste, who was very much <em>not<em>a morning person. Jack however was used to early mornings and had no trouble getting up and setting out a slight breakfast for them. Jack didn't want to travel on too heavy a stomach, especially if they had a long way to go. He certainly didn't want to hear Ivy complaining about being bloated or having a stitch the whole way there.

After some amount of gentle coaxing, Ivy was eventually prised from her bed. After an even longer period of encouragement and prodding, Jack finally succeeded in getting her dressed and ready to go, promising her a hearty lunch in Cerulean as an incentive.

However, a thought struck Jack as they were on their way, and his heart sunk a little as he investigated his wallet. "We're going to have to watch how much money we spend," he said warningly. "I'm already running low."

"Me too…" Ivy said mournfully. She didn't even have to check her purse to know just how much of a dire situation she was in. "What on earth are we going to do…?"

Jack knew the only sensible solution to their money problem and chuckled nervously. "Pokemon battles…" he said under his breath.

"Pardon?" Ivy's sharp ears still picked up on it.

"Pokemon battles…" Jack repeated, cringing slightly.

Ivy let out a long groan. "Are you kidding me? Pokemon battles?"

"Yeah. It's part of the rules, apparently. If you lose, you have to hand over money to the winner… something like half of how much you have on you or something."

Ivy blinked. "But what if you don't _have _any money?"

Jack shrugged. "I have no idea,"

"But…" Ivy ventured worriedly as Phoenix the Pidgey soared above their heads, without a care in the world. "You only have Phoenix to battle with. How do you expect to win any battles with _just _him? Do you even know if he _can _fight?"

Jack had to answer in the negative. "I'm not sure if he can. I guess we'll have to try it out, won't we…?"

"Try it out?"

"Yeah," Jack said with a smile, before whistling to get his Pidgey's attention. "Now, what moves do Pidgey have…?" he murmured out loud to himself.

"Tackle?" Ivy suggested helpfully.

Jack shot Ivy an incredulous look, but then shrugged, realising he didn't have any other options. "Phoenix," he called. "Try a Tackle attack, okay?"

Phoenix cocked his head to one side and cooed loudly. Jack grimaced, wholly expecting his little baby Pidgey to not understand his instructions. However, to his intense surprise, Phoenix sped up his flight, put his head down and sailed forward like this for a good few metres, before eventually slamming into the branch of a tree.

"Well," Ivy deadpanned, as Jack cried out in shock and the dazed Pidgey dropped to the ground. "At least we know he has one attack."

"Phoenix, return!" Jack recalled the Pidgey to its Pokeball, cringing slightly. He certainly hadn't expected his Pokemon to slam straight into the tree like that. He had to keep reminding himself that Phoenix was still likely to be very young, and possibly not completely capable of battling yet. He made a mental note to start to train up the young Pidgey as soon as it recovered from its collision. He was still glaringly aware of the fact that the longer it took him to get Phoenix strong, the longer it would take to get Ivy her first Pokemon. He certainly didn't want to disadvantage Ivy any more than she already was.

The two young adults continued on their way to Cerulean City in the hazy light of the morning. It was surprisingly cold for a summer morning, and Ivy's teeth chattered as the cool air bit at her exposed skin. Eventually, as the sun rose higher into the sky, it began to warm up, the hazy pink and light blue sky eventually darkening into a deep blue hue, with the occasional wisp of cottony cloud.

The azure city of Cerulean eventually rose from the horizon, and both Ivy and Jack were deeply enchanted by this new city. They were both used to the hustle and bustle of city life, but there was something different about Cerulean. Even though it was also a hive of activity, no different from Ivy's home in Pewter City or her university life in Saffron, there was something infinitely calmer and more serene about this place. Jack in particular was well taken with the stretches of ocean that seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see, and he couldn't help but admire the way the slabs of sky and sea blended into each other effortlessly, like paints mixed by a skilled artist.

"It's so beautiful," Ivy found herself saying as they overlooked the city.

"Isn't it?" Jack said with a little smile.

"We should definitely come back here for a holiday once all this training is done with," Ivy ventured, a little nervously, looking up at her friend.

Jack nodded. "Definitely."

Talking excitedly about what the two would do if they came to a place like Cerulean for a holiday, the two young adults continued. Both were completely taken with their new surroundings and were eager to explore much of the city, but they knew that the sooner they got to Viridian Forest, the better. They decided to stop only to eat lunch, knowing that they would need all the strength they could get to tackle the horror that was Mt Moon, the giant, treacherous mountain that cut off Cerulean City from Pewter City.

They ate lunch in one of Cerulean's many restaurants, engaged in light and brief conversation over the table. Ivy remembered that Cerulean City housed one of Kanto's many Gym Leaders, a woman by the name of Misty, who favoured Water Pokemon. Ivy then also got particularly excited when she opened a gossip magazine she had just bought that had reported that Cerulean Gym Leader was now "secretly" dating the Kanto and Johto League Champion. At this point, Jack swiped Ivy over the head with said magazine, and told her not to be so stupid, that magazines made up stories like that to ensure more gullible readers like her.

After lunch, the two left on their way. Cerulean City was a big city, yes, but nowhere near the size of Saffron, which both young adults knew like the back of their hands. It was easy for them to navigate the streets, and a couple of buses and about an hour's travel later, the students found themselves at the cusp of Route 4, which would lead them up to the towering intimidation that was Mt Moon. It was a difficult route to cross, being mainly uphill, and with a lot of steep ledges to climb. Phoenix flew above their heads, circling them, as the two friends huffed and puffed their way across the route.

However, no sooner had they reached Mt Moon, they were faced with a problem. The entrance to the mountain was currently being blocked by two trainers. Ivy and Jack could hear their heightened, raised voices before they could even see them.

"What on earth is going on…?" Jack murmured as they approached, the aggravated voices rising to almost deafening heights.

Upon closer inspection, they saw that both trainers were male and they were practically nose-to-nose in the other's face, yelling about, what Jack understood as, the result of a Pokemon battle. Ivy and Jack exchanged nervous looks, anticipating both these young men to be strong, powerful trainers. Hoping to avoid being challenged, or even _spotted_by the two young men, Ivy and Jack began to edge away nervously.

However, Phoenix, who still hadn't learned the concept that not all humans were good and trustworthy, was excited at the prospect of two new people to play with. Without even so much as a warning, it cawed happily and lifted off Jack's shoulders and flew straight towards the two other trainers.

The first trainer, who had a shock of brilliant red hair, was completely disinterested by the Pidgey and didn't even cast it a backwards glance, but the other seemed to take offence at the trilling bird invading his space. He swept his hand angrily at the bird, hoping to scare it off, but Phoenix was undeterred. This time it made even more of an effort to land on the second trainer's head.

"Get _away _from me, you idiot Pidgey!" the trainer bellowed, trying to catch the bird as it flapped around his head. Seeing that it made little to no effect on the tiny Pokemon, the trainer growled angrily and threw his hand down to his belt, notching a Pokeball from it.

Ivy cried out in panic, but Jack was quicker. With speed Ivy thought she could never attribute to her best friend, Jack had sprinted forward and was now standing firmly in front of the two trainers. As she jogged up to them, she could hear Jack say in his best low, firm, disapproving teacher's voice "Don't you dare touch my Pidgey,"

The second boy, his hand still poised on a Pokeball, shot Jack an incredulous look. "This is _your_Pidgey?"

"That's right," Jack said as calmly as he could manage, and whistled for Phoenix to come and sit on his shoulder. Thankfully the Pokemon obeyed.

"Bit small for a Pidgey, isn't it?" the boy said critically, eyeing the Pidgey with obvious disdain.

"He's still a baby, yes." Jack said smoothly. "Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do. Would you both please move so my friend and I can pass through Mt Moon?"

The second trainer huffed slightly, but obediently stepped aside, revealing the low hanging mouth of the entrance to Mt Moon. Without saying another word, Jack strode forward confidently, with Ivy bringing up the rear nervously. Both thought they had gotten away free for a few moments, but another voice picked up behind them.

"I hope you have more Pokemon with you than just that Pidgey,"

As Jack and Ivy turned around, they saw it was the red-headed boy speaking. The strands were falling over his pale forehead, tickling the bridge of his long, thin nose. Deep brown eyes peeked out from behind the curtain of hair, and his high cheekbones and perfectly sculpted, full lips for some reason, made Ivy initially very nervous and unsure. Even worse was the fact that he looked even older than she was. He looked almost like he was in his twenties, and he had an air of calm and sophistication, even despite the scruffy and well worn plain jeans and t-shirt he was wearing.

She chanced a look at the other boy. While the red-head was tall and impossibly skinny, the second boy was almost the exact opposite. He was shorter and rounder, and had a face that looked unfortunately squashed, like he'd just run straight into a wall. He had coal black hair, cropped short, large, watery blue eyes and a mouth that looked like it was permanently curled into a frown. He had a generally disagreeable air to him that certainly wasn't helped by the threatening way he was holding onto that Pokeball.

Jack glanced at Ivy at the red-head's question, before clearing his throat and answering him as calmly as he could manage. "As a matter of fact, we don't."

The second boy with the black hair burst out laughing. "You don't have any other Pokemon at all?"

Both Ivy and Jack shook their heads.

"Going into Mt Moon without the protection of Pokemon is asking for trouble," the red-head boy said smoothly. "The wild Pokemon in there are too strong for one little Pidgey to take on,"

Ivy winced. This had occurred to her of course, but hearing it stated so bluntly only served to make it sound even worse. She cast a glance at Jack who still looked very calm.

"Well, you two seem to be trainers," Jack said with a smile. "Why don't you accompany us through?"

The red-headed boy looked a little taken aback. "Well, yes, we're trainers—"

"And you know each other, correct?" Jack inquired.

The two boys exchanged wary glances, but nodded all the same.

"Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind escorting Ivy and I through Mt Moon?" Jack said calmly. "We'd both be very grateful for your help _if _you were passing that way yourselves?"

"Funnily enough, we are." The black haired boy said. "We're heading for Viridian City as a matter of fact,"

Ivy couldn't help herself from bursting out "So are we!"

Both boys looked at her strangely, before she cleared her throat and reassessed herself. "Uhh… well, Viridian Forest, actually."

The red-headed boy rolled his eyes and said nothing, but the black haired boy frowned and snapped "Well don't think we're babysitting you two all the way to Viridian Forest. You better catch some Pokemon in Mt Moon if you want to stay alive."

"Thank you for your concern," Jack deflected expertly. "We'll make sure to do that,"

A hint of a smile adorned the red-headed boy's face. "Well, shall we get a move on, then?"

"Wait!" Ivy couldn't help but blurt out. "Sh-shouldn't we introduce ourselves?"

The red-headed boy turned his brown eyes on Ivy, holding out a hand to her. "Of course," he said with a hint of a smile. "Sebastian," he told her. "Sebastian Rhodes,"

Ivy flushed a little before accepting the proffered hand and shaking it. His fingers were long, with perfectly cut nails, and surprisingly cold to the touch. "I'm Ivy McKenzie."

"A McKenzie, huh?" He said with a smile. "You don't see many of them around here,"

"I haven't heard of many "Sebastians" either," Ivy had to fight a giggle as she remembered the song her brother Lewis had sang to her before she had left Saffron. He had sung "Under the Sea" and now, here she was, meeting a Sebastian. Fate certainly seemed to have a sense of humour.

Sebastian smiled, before retracting his hand. Jack stepped forward and shook Sebastian's hand. "I'm Jackson Hartman, but call me Jack."

"Jack," Sebastian repeated, nodding. "Pleasure to meet you both."

Everyone then pointedly turned to look at the black haired boy standing next to Sebastian. He grimaced as soon as all the eyes turned on him. "Robert Rhodes," he said flatly.

"You're both Rhodes?" Ivy cried out in surprise. "Are you guys brothers?"

"Of course not!" Robert snapped. "We're cousins,"

Ivy had to physically stop herself from blurting out "I didn't think so, cos you look nothing alike", but she caught it just in time, swallowed it back and instead compromised by letting out a tiny squeak. Jack shot her a knowing look and she kept her mouth firmly shut tight from that point onward.

"If we're going anywhere, we should go now." Sebastian was quick to exercise his authority over his cousin, and two sudden travelling companions he was supposed to be escorting. They seemed like perfectly pleasant people, he reasoned to himself, but he couldn't help but wonder why people of their age seemed to be such inexperienced trainers. He thought about it for a few seconds. The boy, Jack, seemed to be his age, maybe even older, and Ivy, the girl, was probably the same. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of fascinating stories the two of them carried…

He caught the girl's eye, and was surprised to see her shooting him a wide smile. He couldn't help but smile back, appreciating what a sunny grin she had. He looked in Jack's direction, but was slightly disappointed to see he was distracted by playing with his Pidgey and recalling it back to its Pokeball. Eager to depart and to clear Mt Moon before it got too dark, he summoned his cousin and new travelling partners and began to lead the way through the mouth of Mt Moon.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Well, here's chapter 4 at long last! And I've introduced two new characters, Sebastian and Robert Rhodes. As of yet, I'm still a little unsure as to what their role(s) is going to be, but I hope you enjoy their characters that I'll explore next chapter :)**

**Thanks to all those that read and reviewed :) **

**Special thanks go to Sapphire'sDestiny, Sunbean, MasterFreezeman, TwewyReaperGirl, BlackRoses (for your three wonderful reviews!), Kopycat101, Shadow Serenity 57, WildCroconaw and Zoeten. **

**I'm not sure when the next chapter will be released, as I have to devote a lot of time to my other story Free Spirits, but reviews and reading is still much appreciated on this one :)**

**Cheers guys :D**


	5. The Rhodes Not Taken

**Chapter 5:  
>T<strong>**he Rhodes Not Taken**

Mt Moon was everything Ivy had anticipated, and also dreaded. Charcoal black and dark to the point she couldn't even see a hand in front of her face, and with a strangely musty and oppressive atmosphere. The various caverns and tunnels moulded into the thick, strong body of the mountain were cast into a perpetual muffled silence; the kind that would make one unsure if they really _had _just heard something or if it was just their imagination. Ivy wasn't all too sure what kind of Pokemon lived in Mt Moon, but she somehow managed to convince herself it would be filled with nothing but horrors like Rhydon, Golem, Machamp and Onix, and quickly worked herself into a panic. That was, until Sebastian assured her that the worst they would find in Mt Moon would be an irate Geodude, and that the Pokemon found here would be more of an annoyance than a danger.

Sebastian's words did little to reassure Ivy, who was still nervous about having to creep through the winding tunnels of the inky black cave, initially thinking without any kind of map or even torch-light to aid them. However, Sebastian knew Mt Moon like the back of his hand, and the light coming from the mouth of the cave was enough for the first five minutes of walking. Eventually, the light diminished, casting the travelling party into perpetual darkness. Sebastian however, had a solution.

"Bit dark in here, don't you think?" He said lightly, fiddling at his belt for the Pokeball he needed. "I think we need a bit of light."

Ivy squeaked inadvertently as the unmistakable noise of a Pokeball opening suddenly sounded out. Then Sebastian's voice reverberated out strongly, echoing down the empty tunnels, sounding almost like the commanding voice of a seasoned army general.

"Exeggutor, use Flash!"

Even unflappable Jack let out a cry of surprise as the dark, oppressive surroundings were suddenly lit up with a beam of light so powerful both young adults likened it to the strong beam of a lighthouse, guiding ships to safety. However, even more remarkable than that was the presence of the giant, tree-like Pokemon causing the bright light.

"Exeggu-tor!" the giant Pokemon drawled lazily.

"Good work, Exeggutor!" Sebastian praised his Pokemon warmly, and the Pokemon swaggered proudly at the kind words from its trainer.

"Show off," Robert muttered.

Sebastian shot his cousin a dark look, before turning to Ivy and Jack and motioning for them to keep close. Even with the powerful source of light, there was an easy chance of getting separated if someone lagged behind. Especially the girl, Sebastian thought to himself. She seemed to have a short attention span… "Ditzy" didn't seem to cover it.

They walked in silence for a few moments, thankfully managing to stick together, before the eerie quiet eventually got the better of Ivy, who hated silence at the best of times.

"So…" she began hesitantly. ""Why are you guys going to Viridian?"

"Gym battling," Sebastian said in an off-hand sort of way.

"Gym battling?" Ivy said, wrinkling her nose. "Aren't you cutting it a bit close for entering the Indigo League? There's only a few weeks before it starts up again…"

"I'm not entering the Indigo League,"

"Oh." Ivy hadn't anticipated that answer. "Why?"

Sebastian smiled privately to himself. "Because I've been down that road once before…"

"You have?" Ivy cried out in surprise.

Sebastian nodded. "It was about three years ago, I entered. I didn't get very far; the Elite Four are tough opponents. They're not to be trifled with."

Ivy sensed a further story behind what Sebastian was saying, but she certainly didn't want to pursue it. She had sensed a peculiar reluctance in Sebastian's words, and she didn't want to make her chaperone uncomfortable. Jack however, either had no such qualms or no such sense.

"So, if you've already won at Viridian, why are you going back to the Gym?" he asked in an unusually blunt manner.

Sebastian forced out a short laugh. "I have a bit of a tradition with Viridian's Gym Leader. I have a rematch with him every year."

"Oh, wow." Ivy couldn't deny she was impressed. The idea that any ordinary trainer had such a tradition and some kind of personal relationship with the rumoured strongest Gym Leader in all of Kanto and Johto had left her flummoxed. Evidently, she thought to herself, there was more to this boy than at first met the eye.

From nearby, Robert muttered under his breath. "He talks too much…"

"So, what about you?" Sebastian asked breezily, eager to move the conversation along. "You guys seem a bit… _old _to be just starting out as Pokemon trainers."

Ivy tensed, praying that Jack would keep his mouth shut, but of course, she had no such luck.

"We are." Jack said with a humourless smirk. "We're both students at Saffron University."

At this particular bit of news, Robert could no longer maintain his stony silence. "You're _University _students?" he said incredulously, shooting them both accusing glares. "What the hell are you both doing starting out a Pokemon journey when you're at university?"

At the question, Ivy immediately clammed up. She shot Jack a look that even he couldn't mistake for anything else apart from "don't say a word!" and this time, he knew she was serious and managed to resist temptation. With his mouth safely clamped shut, Ivy managed to squeak out "I had to. But I don't want to talk about that…"

"Why?" Robert asked at once. "It can't be that terrible,"

"It is." Ivy said, perhaps more sharply than she had intended. Even the idea of her having to spill out the insecurities surrounding her failure and the reason she had for having to undertake this stupid journey in the first place made her feel physically sick. A cold sweat broke out over her body. "I just don't like talking about it,"

Robert opened his mouth with the intention of asking more questions, but Sebastian, sensing hostility in the girl standing near to him, quickly intervened with a not-so-subtle subject-change.

"University students, huh?" To his credit, Sebastian was also able to summon up enough genuine interest in his voice to defuse Ivy's agitation. "That's pretty cool. You must both be very clever,"

Jack coughed deliberately, catching Ivy's eye in the process and winking cheekily at her.

Sebastian did an excellent job of ignoring Jack's dig at Ivy, and put forth another question, hoping to bring back a sense of calm. "What are you both studying?"

Ivy stopped glaring at Jack just long enough to answer Sebastian, whose friendliness was quite a shock to her, especially considering his rather aloof appearance. "History." She replied, fighting to keep her voice level. Even the mere _mention _of her degree was still enough to upset her. "And that one's actually training to be a teacher, believe it or not."

"Thanks, darling, love you too." Jack said dryly, before offering a smile to Robert and Sebastian. Only Sebastian returned it.

"A schoolteacher, hmm?" Sebastian would be lying if he had said he had expected that from the boy standing in front of him. With nothing else to say on the matter, he plumped for "You must be very good with children, then."

"I'd like to think so," Jack said with a wry smile, before inclining his head in Ivy's direction. "I get a lot of practice, after all." He said pointedly.

"Yes, quite…" Sebastian said, before being forced to turn his attention back to his Exeggutor who had become stuck in a previously unseen hole in the soft earth. While his back was turned, Ivy turned a furious glare on to Jack, punched him square in the arm and stalked forward, flushing slightly.

The odd little party continued in silence for quite some time. Both Jack and Ivy had their eyes peeled for any Pokemon, horribly conscious of the fact they were already a few days in to Ivy's course and she still had no Pokemon to show for it. Robert and Sebastian however had their attention solely on looking for any wayward trainers, knowing that with a Pokemon of Exeggutor's size and strength walking around with them, they would be an easy target for any trainers passing through and hungry for a battle.

No trainers, or Pokemon, were happened upon however, and the party moved on with no disturbances. The silence however was unnerving Ivy, and she tried to inject conversation back into the small group.

"So…" she ventured as conversationally as she could, hoping at least one of the three boys would pick up on it.

Her efforts, however, were rewarded with stubborn silence. Not even Jack would entertain her.

Ivy sighed and kicked half-heartedly at a rock, booting it to the end of the cave. She hated silence. She hated it more than she cared to admit. But she wasn't about to waste her breath and effort on people that evidently didn't want to talk.

This continued right up until the four young adults (and Exeggutor) cleared the entire length of Mt Moon. It had been a longer, more tiring trip than both university students had anticipated, and both were surprised to see the skies darkening as they left the dark expanse of Mt Moon. They had also been highly disappointed that they hadn't found any Pokemon to capture but they suspected thay may have had something to do with Sebastian's Exeggutor intimidating any Pokemon that would be likely to be hanging around. As they emerged onto the route that would lead them up to Pewter City, Ivy turned to Jack, a thought striking her.

"So… what are we doing? Are we staying in the Pokemon centre tonight?"

Jack shot Ivy a look. Sometimes his best friend's idiocy really flummoxed him. "Ivy… are you forgetting your family _lives _in Pewter City?"

This, of course, hadn't occurred to Ivy. "Oh yeah!" she said brightly, and Jack could practically _see _the proverbial light-bulb turn on over her head.

From nearby, Robert slammed the heel of his hand into his forehead. "_She's _a University student?" He remarked to his cousin in disbelief.

Sebastian said nothing. He actually was privately very amused by the nineteen year old's extreme dizziness, but chose to stay quiet on the subject altogether.

"Do you think your parents will let us stay?" Jack asked as patiently as he could manage.

"I don't know," Ivy said truthfully, while mentally cringing at the thought of her small, unimpressive family home. She was lucky that she and her two sisters and Lewis were able to have their own rooms, but the rooms were tiny, no bigger than cupboards, and big enough only to hold a bed and not much else. There'd be no way she could put up Jack, and as for Sebastian and Robert, it was impossible. Besides, she reasoned, she wasn't exactly all that keen on having to endure the passive-aggressiveness of her older sister Lily-Mae, or the irritating, childish annoyance of her younger brother, especially if she pulled along two other boys in tow. She winced at the thought. Her siblings would be insufferable, and her parents, likely worse.

"Well, we're staying in the Pokemon Centre," Sebastian put forward, seeing Ivy's sudden hesitations.

"I think that's a better idea!" Ivy added immediately, shooting Jack an apologetic look. "Sorry, it's just, well… you know how small my house is…"

Jack smiled. "It's all right. Pokemon Centre it is."

"Great…" Robert deadpanned, privately wishing that he and his cousin could just get rid of the annoyances that seemed to insist on following them around. It only made it worse that Sebastian acted so pleasantly to them, perhaps, dare he even say it, _enjoyed _their company?

For Ivy and Jack, who had never done it before, their first time staying in a Pokemon Centre was certainly a novelty for them. They watched wide-eyed as Sebastian and Robert handed over their Pokemon licenses, signed for a room and deposited six Pokeballs each to the Pokemon nurse for healing. And judging from the way both cousins dilly-dallied over the computers that allowed trainers to swap party Pokemon for any reserve Pokemon, they deduced the cousins must have had a lot more Pokemon that just the six they had on hand…

After being assigned room 27B, and finding out that Sebastian and Robert were to be staying in 32B, literally across the corridor from them, the two sets of trainers headed down for a modest dinner in the Pokemon Centre canteen. The canteen was awash with Pokemon trainers, all of varying ages and of different descents, but Ivy noticed nervously that every single trainer besides herself, Jack and the Rhodes cousins seemed to be around the ages of fourteen to sixteen. She was suddenly very very conscious of her nineteen years of age and the fact she still had no Pokemon to call her own yet.

She poked at her leek and potato soup slowly with her spoon. "I feel really awkward when everyone else here is so young." She stated, a little nervously.

"You should be feeling more awkward about the fact you're in a Pokemon Centre and you don't even have any Pokemon," Robert cut in darkly, moodily spearing bits of tomato pasta on his fork.

Jack, who at this point was about to say something to a very similar extent, choked on the mouthful of potatoes he had just taken. Robert raised a disapproving eyebrow, mild concern appeared on Sebastian's face and Ivy shrieked and banged down far too heavily on Jack's back in an attempt to dislodge the food from his windpipe. This only caused Jack to yell out in pain, start choking all over again and caused every single person in the canteen to slowly turn to look at the loud scene unfolding in the cramped canteen. Sebastian began spooning up his rice calmly, looking at the others as if challenging them to say anything, and Robert let out a haughty sigh before continuing to violently impale the shells of pasta on the on the spears of his fork.

After dinner, the four reluctant travelling companions didn't quite know what to do with their time. Ivy had taken a liking to the boys, despite Sebastian's quiet aloofness and Robert's sarcasm, and wasn't quite ready to say goodbye yet. Fortunately, Sebastian, who remembered that the two young students had only one (very weak) Pokemon between them for protection decided to offer his help to show Jack the best ways to train up the tiny Pidgey.

So, while Jack and Sebastian drilled some basic exercises with Phoenix the Pidgey, that left a rather nervous Ivy and an inherently bored Robert to make small talk by the side of the Pokemon Centre.

"So…" Ivy murmured softly, watching the darkened shapes of Jack, Sebastian and Phoenix flit around in front of them. She was desperate for some topic of conversation, and landed on the first thing that came to her mind. "How long have you been a Pokemon trainer?"

"Ten years," came the flat, disinterested reply.

"Ten years!" Ivy repeated in disbelief. "How old _are_ you?"

The boy shot her an indignant look, but chose not to pursue the obvious jibe. "I've just turned twenty-one."

"Twenty-one?" Ivy shrieked. She almost shot away from him in her shock. Robert's youthful appearance, down to his shorter stature, rounder face and larger, watery eyes had given Ivy the distinct impression that Robert was younger than her! To find out he was actually _older _than her by almost two years shocked her into rare silence.

After a few moments of stunned quiet, Ivy plucked up the courage to speak again. "And what about Sebastian? How old is he?"

Robert cast Ivy a disapproving look. "Why?"

"Cos I thought Sebastian was older than you…" she admitted, a little nervously.

"He's not." Robert deadpanned. "He's turning twenty-one in November."

Well that was it. Ivy's jaw dropped straight to the ground. She couldn't believe it. Robert was _older _than Sebastian! In fact, _Jack _would turn twenty-one before Sebastian did. But Sebastian looked like he was in his mid-twenties at least, and his cool, sophisticated air and easy good looks only seemed to cement this idea.

Robert shook his head at Ivy's amazed expression, sat down heavily on the grassy ground and let out a deep sigh. Ivy, still flummoxed, cast a glance at Sebastian and Jack. Their dark figures had moved further away now, and she could only vaguely see them moving by the faint golden illumination coming from the familiar streetlamps that lined the grey streets of Pewter City. The noises of the cawing Pidgey reached her ears just fine however though, and something else that surprised her.

Laughter.

Jack was laughing.

"_How strange…_" Ivy thought to herself, but she was cut off from her thoughts abruptly when Robert's voice sounded in her ear again.

"So, you never said why you're a trainer now."

"Huh?" Ivy swung her head around to look at the young man.

"You never explained why you "had" to become a trainer."

"Oh…" she faltered a little. "Well, it's kinda a long story."

"I got time." Robert said gruffly. "Those two look like they're going to be at it for a while, anyway." He added, jerking his head in the direction of Sebastian and Jack.

Ivy found she couldn't say anything. This time, it wasn't all down to her reluctance to tell a total stranger all about the embarrassing story that had led up to this whole situation, it also had something to do with the fact that that Robert was actually attempting to engage her in a conversation. Ironically, she had lapsed into speechlessness once again.

Eventually she found her tongue. "Just… just circumstances." She said, rather stiffly.

"What kind of circumstances?"

Ivy had to give the boy credit. He was at least _trying _to sound like he wasn't bored and disinterested; however it wasn't encouraging Ivy to open her mouth on the subject any more than she was comfortable with saying. The thought of explaining all over again, to a person who obviously loved Pokemon training, that she was only doing this because she wasn't clever enough to pass her degree made her cringe with embarrassment. She'd barely even known these boys a day, but yet she found herself strangely caring about their opinion of her.

She maintained a silence, hoping that Robert would understand and stay quiet.

No such luck.

"So, are you just going to sit there and gawp?" Robert said, a few moments of uneasy silence later. "Or are we going to indulge in the miracle of speech?"

Ivy jumped. "Uhm…"

"You never seemed to shut up until now," Robert said scathingly, shooting her an incredulous look. "

Ivy stiffened. "I just don't like talking about all this."

"All this? All this _what_?"

"Having to become a Pokemon trainer."

"_Having_?" Robert repeated, wrinkling his nose. "You _had _to become a trainer?"

"Y-yes…" Ivy said nervously, wishing she could just run away from Robert and the whole conversation. "I had to."

"Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not? It can't be that bad."

Ivy sighed and wrapped her legs around her knees, resting her head on her folded arms. "It _is _bad. It's embarrassing, it's demeaning, I never wanted to do it in the first place, and I hate it. And I don't want to talk about it."

If Ivy had been watching Robert's reaction, she would have seen his face slowly twist with every new sentence she spat forth. She didn't however, and as such, could not prepare herself for his reaction.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Robert suddenly said, rather standoffishly. "Listen, I'm not gonna pretend I know why on earth you "had" to become a Pokemon trainer so late, but I'm not gonna lie either. I don't think it's all that bad. I think you could have it a _lot _worse than Pokemon training."

Ivy flinched, turning a shocked face to Robert. It took her a few moments to process what he had just said and to find her voice again. "You don't know that!" she said, angrily. "You don't know the circumstances of it all!"

"Only cos you won't tell me," he deflected calmly.

Ivy flinched again. "I have my reasons,"

"Oh, grow up, Ivy." Robert looked at her angrily, his watery eyes hardening. "I don't know why you had to become a trainer, but you really should be a little more grateful. A lot of people want to become trainers, and hardly any of them ever will. So many people who really _want _to become Pokemon trainers are never able to! They never get a chance! You should be grateful to get the_ chance_ to do something so many people will never get the opportunity to ever do."

Ivy recoiled sharply "But I don't _want _to do this!"

Robert shook his head. "Ivy—"

At the mention of her name in such a hardened tone, Ivy eventually lost what little hold she had on her patience. And as her temper snapped, so too did her inhibitions and every detail came spilling out her mouth without any consent whatsoever.

"I failed my degree, okay?" she cried angrily, glaring furiously at Robert. "Okay? You happy? I failed my degree and I had to do a summer course if I want any chance to come back and keep going. And the only summer course I _could _do was this stupid Pokemon training course! I've got to get six really rare Pokemon, train them up and bring them back to Saffron in _three months _to their exact specifications! And if I don't pass this course, I'll get thrown out! And I can't fail, okay? I just can't!"

"I see," Robert's faced showed no outward display of emotion. "And your friend? He failed the course too?"

"W-well, no…" Ivy said, blushing fiercely. "He's passed everything. He's just along to keep me company."

"Huh," Robert said, crossing his arms. "Well, I still say you're lucky. At least you have another _chance _to pass. Not everyone's that lucky. And you've got a friend, who doesn't even need to be there, helping you along the way. I'd say that's pretty damn good luck already."

"But you haven't even seen the Pokemon I'm supposed to capture! In three months! All those rare Pokemon I'm meant to capture without being given any Pokemon to catch them with!"

"You've got that Pidgey, haven't you? That Pidgey Sebastian is helping to train up."

"But it's just a Pidgey, I—"

"Ivy." Robert said seriously. "Fair enough, I'll admit that this situation you're in is difficult. Difficult, but not impossible. You've already got more advantages than you think. But I don't think you whining and complaining about it all the time is going to help. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, why not get up off your backside and put all your effort into it to make _sure _you pass. Sitting around whining isn't going to help anything."

Ivy recoiled back, a little wounded. She opened her mouth as if she was about to protest again, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, she snapped her jaw shut, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes, scrambled clumsily to her feet and ran back inside the Pokemon centre, a hysterical sob sounding as the door swung shut behind her. Robert let out a tired sigh, not even bothered by the fact the girl was upset, and went back to watching his cousin and the apparent teacher-in-training work with the baby Pidgey.

Over by one of the rare gardens in Pewter City, Sebastian laughed as the baby Pidgey zoomed past his head in a perfect display of a Tackle attack. Jack grinned happily as the Pidgey slowed to a stop just in time, turned around and faced him, cawing happily, looking for praise. Jack was more than willing to comply.

Sebastian drew himself up to his full height, letting out a smile and stretching, his joints cracking satisfyingly. "You're pretty good at this Pokemon training, Jack. Why did you wait this long to start?"

Jack shrugged, holding out his hand for Phoenix to land on him. The Pidgey did so, and Jack tickled its chest. It chirruped happily, pleased with the affection from its trainer. "I don't know," he said airily. "Guess I just never got the opportunity."

Sebastian frowned. "So, you would have _wanted _to start earlier?"

Jack hesitated. Sebastian was touching on a slightly sensitive subject here, but he wasn't keen on telling someone who was still practically a stranger to him about it, especially when even _Ivy _didn't know. Not wanting to draw any more attention to the matter than he thought necessary, he compensated by shrugging again. "You could say that,"

"I see," Sebastian said slowly, although he didn't. Feeling slightly awkward knowing that Jack obviously didn't want to pursue the subject, he looked around for his cousin and Jack's friend Ivy, who had been watching them. He was surprised to see that Robert's attention span had held out long enough for him to still be there, but he couldn't deny he was worried to see that Ivy was no longer there, especially when he considered the short temper and cutting tongue of his cousin.

Jack noticed Sebastian staring, and turned around to look. He blinked in confusion at the absence of his friend, and turned to Sebastian. "Did you see where Ivy went?"

"No," Sebastian said carefully. However, judging by the badly-concealed look of thunder on his cousin's face, he quickly came to a rather worrying conclusion. He wasn't eager to tell Jack this however and simply suggested that Ivy had perhaps just gone to bed.

"Ivy? Gone to bed?" Jack laughed. "Are you kidding? That girl would stay up all night and sleep all day if she got the chance."

"Huh," was all Sebastian could say.

"I suppose I better go and see where's she gotten to," Jack excused himself tactfully. He recalled Phoenix to his Pokeball and jogged inside the Pokemon Centre, barely even stopping to acknowledge Robert as he stepped inside.

Sebastian waited until the door had long swung shut before slowly walking up to his cousin. He raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you say anything to Ivy?"

Robert shot him an indignant look. "What makes you think I did?"

"Cos you can never keep that big mouth of yours shut," Sebastian's tone was light and teasing, but there was still a hint of disapproval laced within it.

"She was whining. I just told her to grow up a bit."

Sebastian sighed wearily, running a hand through his shocking red hair. "You're not exactly a people person, are you?"

Robert glared at his cousin. "I don't know what her problem is. Yeah, it's difficult what she has to do, but it's not impossible. I just hate people who complain and moan all the time instead of shutting up and getting on with it,"

"Yeah, and you're a fine, up-standing example of someone who doesn't moan, aren't you?" Sebastian asked, folding his arms tightly.

Robert grunted. "I'm not as bad as her."

"Pfft. I just hope you didn't upset her."

"Of course not," Robert said primly, whilst privately thinking "_For Arceus's sake, if she's that thin-skinned to get upset by_ that _she has no business being a Pokemon trainer._"

* * *

><p>But of course, Ivy <em>had <em>been upset by this. By the time Jack eventually, after being distracted by the local news for a good ten minutes in the lobby of the Pokemon centre, found his way back to their shared room, he was surprised to see their room still locked, dark and untouched, like no-one had even been in it. At first he wasn't too concerned, assuming his friend had simply gone in the shower before bed, even though showering at night wasn't a habit of hers. He went down to the lobby once again, bought a can of lemonade and a couple of late night snacks from the vending machines, bade goodnight to a rather bored looking Robert and an indifferent Sebastian and headed back upstairs to his room.

Ivy still hadn't returned by the time he undressed and slipped into bed. He was starting to get worried, but he tried to rationalise with himself. Pewter City was Ivy's home; she knew it like the back of her hand. If she had gone for a walk like he was beginning to suspect she had, there was no way she could get lost. His mind somewhat at ease, he settled into bed, aware of the fact that it only was a little after ten at night. Ivy was a perpetual night owl, who seemed to function best in the evening and at night. She was active at night; it was just in her nature. Jack knew she liked late-night walks anyway; it was entirely possible she just wanted to be on her own for a while.

Keeping these thoughts in mind was the only reason that stopped Jack from reaching for his phone and calling his friend to make sure she was safe. He reluctantly prised himself from his bed and unlocked the door of their room just in case she came back when he was asleep and didn't have her key, and slipped back into bed.

He had originally intended to lie awake until his friend returned, but the warmth and comfort of the soft bed, accompanied by the hours of strenuous travel and the heavy training session he had undertaken with Sebastian quickly got the better of him. Within minutes of lying down he slipped into a deep, comforting sleep and barely moved position at all during the night. If a bomb had gone off right outside his window he wouldn't have awoken, much less picked up on the gentle noise of a door opening or the soft creak of a bed being crept into.

When Jack awoke lazily the next morning, on the dot of eight o'clock, as he always did, he almost forgot where he was for a moment. He was used to sleeping in strange beds, having been in and out of various university residences the past couple years, and from a lifetime of flitting between his father's house and his mother's house, but it took him a few moments to process the fact he was in a _Pokemon Centre _bed. A little smile crept across his face and he rolled over, stretching his long body luxuriously under the sheets, meaning to wish Ivy a good morning.

He stopped in his tracks the moment he turned over.

Ivy's bed was still perfectly made. It hadn't been slept in.

His heart thudded.

Ivy had been gone all night.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Well, that's me back with another update. **

**I was quite proud of the pun I was able to make in this chapter title :)**

**For those of you that don't know (those who don't read Free Spirits) I've recently announced my upcoming retirement from this site coming in July, but I assure you, I will do my utmost to finish Master's Degree before then. **

**I have had a couple of people who have concerns over Ivy and Jack's characterisation, but I assure you, as unlikely as it may seem, these characters are realistic portrayals of uni students. Like Jack and Ivy, I'm in my second year out of four in Uni, and I'm also nineteen going on twenty, so take it from someone who knows. I've met a lot of students who are just as dizzy as Ivy at that age, and even more who are slightly pretentious and serious, like Jack. I do try my utmost to make my characters likeable and believeable, so I just ask for your patience while the characters develop over the course of the story. **

**Special thanks to my regulars - MasterFreezeman, WildCroconaw, Shadow Serenity 57, Internal Winter, Sniper Mudkip, Kopycat101, mel0215, and Zoeten. And thanks to everyone who reads, too :)**

**Please read and review if you get the chance. And drop a wee comment or concern or whatever into my forum (link on my profile) if you have a question you want answered quickly. **

**Thanks guys :)**


	6. Onwards and Upwards

**Chapter 6  
>Onwards and Upwards<strong>

Without even a moment's hesitation, Jack threw back the bedclothes and flew out of bed. He stopped only momentarily to pull on last night's t-shirt to cover his bare chest, before yanking open the door and emerging into the deserted hallway of the residential dorms of the Pokemon Centre. He sprinted down the hallway, his thick locks of blonde hair bouncing madly, not even caring about the state he no doubt looked. All the time his mind was flooded with horrible scenarios and one word was being screamed relentlessly over and over again. "_Ivy! Ivy! Ivy!_"

His first port of call was the kindly Nurse Joy on duty at the front desk. She gasped in concern when the young man dashed up to her; only half dressed, and visibly panicked. Jack quickly demanded to know if she or anyone else had seen a young woman matching Ivy's description at all during the night. The Nurse Joy regretted that she hadn't as she hadn't been covering the night shift, but she would let him know at once if she did, or if anyone else mentioned her.

With his searches proving fruitless, another jab of fear very quickly set in for Jack. Even as a person who favoured rational thought and level-headedness above anything and everything else, the knowledge that his best friend had likely been missing all night, even in her hometown, had sent him into a blind and uncharacteristic panic.

With little other option than to start searching, he charged back to his room to get properly dressed, his intention to begin a thorough combing of the city as soon as possible. However, before he could get back to his room, he met Robert and Sebastian as they sleepily left their room, no doubt on the way down to breakfast. Neither of the Rhodes cousins had a chance to even offer Jack a greeting before he juddered to a stop in front of them, breathless, wide-eyed and thoroughly panicked.

"Ivy's missing!" he cried out, before either cousin had a chance to even open their mouths to inquire as to what was wrong.

Sebastian's eyes noticeably widened behind the curtain of his long red hair. "Missing?" he repeated, sounding concerned. "How? Why? Since when?"

"All night, I think!" Jack said, desperately trying to regain control of himself. He knew panic wouldn't help, but he was still struggling to keep himself composed. Very few things panicked Jack, but the welfare of his friends and family was one of those rare things that would. "She wasn't there when I went to bed last night, and her bed wasn't slept in this morning!"

"Who was the last person to see her?" Sebastian asked in a calm voice, knowing he had to be the rational one in the face of Jack's fright.

Jack thought about it, his mind racing. He hadn't seen her since the time he had been training with Sebastian. Ivy had been sitting with Robert during that time, if he remembered rightly. "R-Robert, I think…"

Two pairs of eyes then immediately fell on Robert, who frowned deeply. "Yeah, I might have seen her last. What of it?"

"Was she upset about anything when you saw her?" Jack asked immediately.

Robert didn't even flinch at the question. "You could say that," he said, in an almost airy manner, crossing his arms lightly.

"What about?" Jack pressed him.

"… stuff." Robert said evasively.

Sebastian, immediately knowing what his cousin was alluding to, quickly stepped in. He knew it wouldn't help Jack's panic by knowing it was Robert that had caused Ivy's upset, and it certainly wouldn't help them find her. He cleared his throat and took charge, knowing immediately the most effective and quickest way to locate the missing girl.

"Do you have any of her items of clothing?"

Jack blinked. "_What?"_ he asked, sounding horrified and embarrassed at the same time.

Sebastian pulled a Pokeball from his belt and tossed it to the ground. From it, came a powerful, well groomed and intimidating figure of an Arcanine that barked loudly as soon as it was released. Jack almost fell over in his fright as the giant red dog Pokemon began growling at him, hackles raised, but Sebastian put a commanding hand on his Pokemon's side, silencing it immediately.

"My Arcanine has the keenest sense of smell you could ever hope for," he explained, regarding the giant Pokemon with a fond look. "Bring me something that has her scent on it, and I can guarantee you he'll find her."

Jack looked momentarily stunned at the request, but quickly pulled himself together. With a quick nod, he disappeared into his and Ivy's shared room.

A few moments passed, and an ominous crash sounded from somewhere inside Jack and Ivy's room that made Sebastian wince a little. He let out a sigh, before glaring at his cousin.. "I hope you're happy," he said darkly.

"I didn't expect her to react like this," Robert didn't sound guilty in the slightest. In fact, he spoke flatly, almost disinterested, like the whole situation didn't apply to him.

"No, you just didn't think," Sebastian said icily. "You really need to learn to—"

He was cut off by Jack suddenly bursting out from the room again, somehow now fully dressed, clutching a soft cardigan in his hands. He had found it on the desk in the room. Ivy had obviously just chucked it down when they first took their bags up to get rid of them before they had eaten dinner the previous night, and Jack was immensely glad of that rare stroke of luck. He shoved it in Sebastian's direction. He took it reluctantly, looking strangely nervous and slightly embarrassed to be holding the pink fluffy garment. He quickly pushed his embarrassment aside as soon as he saw the desperate look in Jack's eyes. "Arcanine, can you find her?" Sebastian asked his loyal Pokemon as he put the cardigan under the dog Pokemon's nose.

After a quick sniff, Arcanine began to bark and ran off down the hallway, immediately picking up a scent. Jack was on him like a shot, and Sebastian chased after them. It was only Robert that took the time to close both doors that had been left wide open and then nonchalantly followed in Jack and his cousin's wake.

"Arcanine, slow down!" Sebastian called, as the Arcanine broke out of the Pokemon Centre, almost mowing down an unsuspecting trainer in its path, and tore across the, mercifully almost empty, streets of Pewter City. The dog obediently slowed down to a brisk trot at its master's command, then stopped altogether and put its nose to the ground, sniffing, allowing the three young men to eventually catch up to it.

"Has he found her?" Jack asked, his heart thudding against his chest. He wasn't sure anymore if it was from the running, the adrenaline, the panic or a combination of all three.

Arcanine whined nervously, pawing at the ground. He sniffed the air again, before turning on his heel and trotted off in a completely different direction, towards a large housing estate just nestled in the east of the city. Robert and Sebastian looked at each other in a confused manner, wondering what on earth Arcanine was doing, but Jack suddenly understood. He let out a sigh of relief as the solution presented itself to him, and then mentally kicked himself for not realising the obvious sooner.

They followed the Fire Pokemon down a small cul-de-sac, until the Arcanine stopped outside a relatively normal-looking two-storey house, mostly a dull grey in colour. The curtains were still firmly drawn across all the visible windows, but Jack could make out a slight golden hue behind one of the top storey windows.

"Ivy," he murmured.

No sooner had Arcanine began to whine outside the house, Jack was off like a shot. However, instead of running up to the front door like most people would, he dodged around to stand underneath the window that returned a faint glow. He picked up a small pebble, which he then hurled at the window with as much force as he could muster. Sebastian and Robert exchanged confused looks as Jack repeated this process a few times, the pebbles rapping loudly against the paned glass, before the curtains were suddenly drawn, the window was pushed open and a head poked out.

A shocked voice reached their ears before they could even identify the face. "Jack! What the hell! How did you find me?"

* * *

><p>"This is embarrassing…" Robert muttered darkly to his cousin, as they sat in a bright and cheerful kitchen, around a crowded and cheerful breakfast table. The McKenzie family breakfast table.<p>

"Just shut up and keep smiling," Sebastian said through fiercely gritted teeth, while somehow still managing to maintain a pleasant smile as Hollie McKenzie refilled his cup of tea. "Thank you, Mrs McKenzie,"

"Are you sure you wouldn't like anything else to eat, dears?" Hollie asked sweetly.

"Oh, no, thank you," Sebastian said, waving his hands. "I'm stuffed, thank you." He indicated the practically licked clean plate that had not long ago held a thick stack of Hollie McKenzie's famous, and almost criminally delicious, pancakes.

"I'll have another one, if there's any going?" Jack asked politely, his mouth practically watering in anticipation.

"Me too! Me too!" Lewis McKenzie squealed excitedly, bashing his fork off the side of his plate in his eagerness, which then almost bounced off the table.

Lily-Mae McKenzie rolled her eyes at her little brother's antics, and continued sipping at her coffee. She had denied breakfast, claiming she was "watching her figure", but it was widely considered in the family that the painfully skinny Lily-Mae was too thin to have a figure _to _watch, but the McKenzies had long grown tired of arguing with her over this matter. Instead of eating, Lily-Mae was busying herself by intently watching Sebastian, whom she privately considered very cute. She was pointedly making eyes at the young man, hoping to attract his attention, and Sebastian thankfully either hadn't noticed or was doing an excellent job of pretending he hadn't.

Jack was glad that Ivy's father Callum had already left for work that morning. He wasn't sure how the overprotective father would react to three men turning up on his doorstep inquiring after his daughter. He found himself cringing a little at this, and hid it by taking a long draught of his tea. Now, while Jack doubted Ivy's father would have taken to the matter well, Ivy's mother Hollie was a completely different matter. While she had been shocked to discover that her daughter had somehow snuck back into the family home late at night, she had also been overly enthusiastic at the appearance of the three young men at her home that morning, and had invited all three of Ivy's "nice young friends" in for breakfast while a highly embarrassed Ivy washed and dressed upstairs.

"I had to admit I was quite surprised when I found Ivy in her bed this morning," Hollie chatted away to no-one in particular as she served up some more pancakes to both Lewis and Jack. "She didn't even tell me she was home. I had quite the shock!"

"So did I," Jack said with a humourless laugh.

"Poor Ivy," Hollie said with a sigh, setting her frying pan down. "She must not be handling this as well as I thought…"

At this point, Robert coughed loudly and Sebastian, quick as anything, elbowed his cousin firmly in the ribs to shut him up. "Don't say a word!" he mouthed fiercely.

"Shut up!" Robert hissed, elbowing his cousin back.

The two cousins began to bicker loudly, but thankfully an all out war was avoided when the perpetually curious Lewis McKenzie suddenly thought of a question he would quite like to have answered. "So, you two are Pokemon trainers?" he asked the cousins, his mouth full of pancake and syrup. "_Proper _Pokemon trainers? Not pretend ones like Jack and Ivy?"

Jack grimaced at the obvious jibe at his and Ivy's expense, but Sebastian smiled at the young boy. "Yeah, we're proper Pokemon trainers."

"How many Pokemon do you have?"

"Hundreds." Robert deadpanned before Sebastian got a chance to answer.

"Wow, really? Hundreds?" Lewis asked in awe, eyes shining.

"Not really hundreds, no," Sebastian corrected him, eyeing his cousin darkly. "But we have quite a lot,"

"Do you have a Salamence?"

Sebastian blinked at the odd question. "A… A Salamence?"

"Yeah! They're my favourite Pokemon ever!" Lewis cried excitedly, taking another massive chomp out of his pancake. "Do you have one?"

"N-no, I don't." Sebastian was still a little perplexed at the young boy's strange request. "I don't really have that many Pokemon from places other than Kanto,"

"Awww…" Lewis said, looking dejected. He speared his pancake moodily with his fork. "I'm never going to get to see one,"

"Maybe your sister Ivy will bring you one back to see one day?" Jack asked the young boy, smiling reassuringly at him.

Lewis frowned, obviously not too hopeful at that idea, and opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by another voice from the doorway. "Are you mad? Your sister Ivy hasn't even caught _one _Pokemon yet."

"Ivy!" Jack said in surprise.

Indeed, it was Ivy standing at the door. She looked very girly and sweet, swathed in folds of a knee-length purple dress decorated with tiny flowers, her favourite brown boots on her feet, and a thin black cardigan. Very nice, Sebastian found himself thinking privately, but wholly unpractical for trekking through Viridian Forest, if that's what they were still aiming to do that day. As Jack looked Ivy up and down, he noticed that she was wearing a heavy coating of foundation and blusher, much thicker than she normally wore. When he squinted further, he noticed a tell-tale reddening around her eyes. His heart sunk a little. She had obviously been crying all night.

"Not even one Pokemon?" Lewis sounded disappointed. "Ivy, you're terrible at this!"

"Lewis!" Jack scolded, immediately noticing the flinch that Ivy gave at her brother's words. "You shouldn't say that to your sister,"

Lewis frowned at the scolding, but the knowledge that Jack was, in his ten year old eyes and logic, a teacher, shut him up and he continued eating his pancake in moody silence.

"Breakfast, Ivy?" Hollie asked at once.

"Not for me, just tea." She said, taking a seat nervously between Jack and Lily-Mae. Lily-Mae didn't even look up at her younger sister as she sat down, but Jack immediately found his best friend's hand and squeezed it. Ivy glanced at Jack in shock at his rare display of affection, and Jack smiled. He mouthed "are you okay?" to her, to which she managed to smile and nod in reply.

She didn't even notice an irate Sebastian elbow his cousin repeatedly in the ribs and mutter "Apologise! Apologise!" in an angry hiss. Robert of course, pretended nothing was going on.

As Hollie set a cup of steaming hot tea in front of her daughter and sat down herself, she turned to Ivy and Jack. "So, where are you guys headed?"

"Viridian Forest hopefully, Mrs McKenzie," Jack explained. "There's a lot of Pokemon there, we're hoping we can catch Ivy something,"

"That sounds like a good plan," Hollie smiled, and then turning to Sebastian and Robert. "And what about you boys? Are you going there too?"

"A little bit further," Sebastian said politely. "Viridian City."

"That's a lovely city," Hollie said with a smile. "One of my favourites actually. I used to love going down there to visit my cousins when I was a little girl," she smiled at something obviously nostalgic, before speaking again. "Ivy, Jack? Are you going to Viridian City too?"

At this question, Robert grimaced and slumped down in his chair a little.

"Well, we can't really keep bothering them…" Ivy said, casting a nervous glance in their direction. "I don't even know if any of my list Pokemon are _in _Viridian."

"List Pokemon?" Sebastian inquired.

"Oh yeah… you don't know…" Ivy suddenly remembered with a deep blush. She quickly explained the whole sorry situation, realising that there was no point in keeping it secret anymore, considering Robert already knew. She also had a suspicion that either Lily-Mae or Lewis would be all too happy to fill Sebastian in with a much more fabricated version of the events, should she hesitate or refuse to explain. She did however tell it as briefly and as painlessly as possible, skimming over some of the more embarrassing details and glaring at Lewis every time he opened his mouth to "help" his sister tell the story. She finally concluded by telling Sebastian the list of Pokemon she needed to capture, feeling a stab of depression hit her with every Pokemon she named.

"You do realise that some of those Pokemon are pretty rare, right?" Sebastian said in a slightly sceptical tone after Ivy had filled him in.

"Of course, that's the problem."

"Hmmm," Sebastian said, leaning back in his chair thoughtfully and crossing his legs. "Well, Pidgeotto can evolve from a Pidgey, which you'll find anywhere," he said. "Nidoran you can get around Route 22, if I remember rightly. Venonat can be found in the Safari Zone or Route 12, 13 and 14 I think. As for Cubone, you're likely to only find them in Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town. Vulpix are rare too, but there's a few places you might find them. Apparently they breed somewhere on Cinnabar Island. As for Shellder, well… anywhere there's deep sea, there'll be Shellder."

Jack was scribbling all this down on a piece of paper he had frantically requested from Hollie as soon as Sebastian had started speaking, but an idea had struck the experienced Pokemon trainer, and he quickly told Jack to stop writing.

"Listen." He said slowly, as a confused Ivy and Jack looked in his direction. "You guys still are a bit… inexperienced to be going around Kanto on your own in search of all these really rare Pokemon. I'd feel bad leaving you to do it yourselves, especially since you don't know Kanto that well and you've got so little time,"

"Sebastian…" Robert said warningly, knowing what his cousin was getting at immediately.

Sebastian deftly ignored his cousin. "So, why don't we stick around?" he suggested lightly. "Help you catch all those Pokemon you need?"

Ivy gasped, her eyes widening, and her heart momentarily stopping. "You… you would _do _that?"

"Of course," Sebastian said with a warm smile. "It's the least we could do. To _apologise_," he added, pointedly shooting Robert a dirty look.

Jack didn't get it. "Apologise?" he asked, confused.

Ivy however immediately realised what Sebastian was getting at, and she nodded. "Yeah…" she said softly, not really able to look at either young man in the eye. "That would work out pretty well then. Especially since you know where all the Pokemon are."

Sebastian smiled. "Is it a deal then?" he held out his hand.

Ivy found that she didn't even have to hesitate. Even after what Robert had said to her the previous night, she found that she didn't want the Rhodes cousins to leave. As much as she hated to admit it, Robert had been right in a lot of the things he said. She was a bit of a crybaby, she was the first to admit that, and she was the kind of person who would whine about something first instead of actually getting up and doing it, but hearing it stated so bluntly to her had scared her and had upset her more than she had cared to admit. She knew that was the reason she had run off without even telling Jack. She couldn't bear having to explain to him why she was so upset. What Robert had said to her had struck a terrifying chord with her. She knew she needed to change her attitude a little. And incidentally enough, what Robert has said had even given her a little bit of motivation. Motivation to take the Tauros by the horns and start working. She had been given an opportunity. What use was there in wasting it? And now, realising that Sebastian knew roughly where to find all the Pokemon she needed, she most certainly wanted these boys to stick around.

She reached her hand out and grasped Sebastian's. "Deal," she said, with a firm handshake.

* * *

><p>The odd little party left Ivy's home around an hour or so later, not long after Lily-Mae went to work and Lewis left for school. They didn't leave empty handed as Hollie provided them with a further stack of her homemade pancakes wrapped up in tin-foil, and various containers of food they could re-heat and use for lunch and dinners. As they were leaving out the door, Hollie called her daughter back and slipped her a wad of money, knowing full well her daughter was, for lack of a better word, broke. She refused to take it back, despite the amount of protesting Ivy made about the fact her mother struggled for money anyway without giving it to her. Ivy was inherently touched by her mother's gesture, and left the house with a lump the size of a walnut wedged in her throat.<p>

So, with a decent supply of food and a bit of money in her pocket, Ivy and the others left the McKenzie household and departed first for the Pokemon Centre to gather their things, then for the short walk across Pewter City that would lead them to the edge of Viridian Forest. Along the walk across the cobbled and paved streets of Pewter, Jack, despite himself, kept shooting Ivy wary glances. He was more curious about what had caused Ivy's upset than he cared to admit, but there hadn't been a good opportunity yet to ask her about it. He seriously doubted she would be willing to talk about it. All he knew was that it most likely concerned the Rhodes cousins, considering the nervous glances she kept shooting them.

"So, this is Viridian Forest, huh?" Jack asked, as soon as they arrived at the cusp of the giant expanse of forestry. For Jack, who had never once set foot into a place like Viridian Forest, it was a novel, and intimidating, experience.

"This is it," Sebastian said with a nod. He turned to Ivy. "You'll find a lot of weak Pokemon there. Caterpie, Weedle, Pidgey… maybe even a Pikachu. And if we're _really _lucky, we'll find you that Venonat."

Ivy nodded; feeling a stab of apprehension hit her all of a sudden. Her hands clenched into fists of their own accord. Suddenly the idea of catching her very own Pokemon for the first time had left her inexplicably paralysed with fear and doubt, instead of brimming with excitement and giddy nervousness like she had been experiencing beforehand.

Something Sebastian had said suddenly resonated with Robert, and he turned a confused face to his cousin. "Wait, did you say a Venonat?"

"Yeah…?"

"Are you kidding? We'll never find a Venonat in there," Robert said with a haughty sigh. "They're not native to Viridian Forest."

"Oh come on, they're Venonats. Bug Pokemon! Bug Pokemon live in forests, right? I can guarantee you we'll find one in there." Sebastian rebuked.

"Whether or not Bug Pokemon live in forests or not is irrelevant! I'm telling you, Sebastian, you don't get _Venonat_ in Viridian Forest." Robert said through fiercely gritted teeth. He then turned to look at Ivy, who flinched a little as his eyes fell on her. "Sebastian is being an idiot. You won't find a Venonat in there. Your best bet for one of them is the Safari Zone."

"No, Robert, I'm telling you—"

Both Ivy and Jack zoned out at this point, letting the argument simply wash over them. Truth be told, Ivy had no clue if Venonat could be found in Viridian Forest, but she found herself inexplicably not caring. She was too nervous to care. The thought of catching a Pokemon, _any _Pokemon, was scaring her enough as it was. The more sensible and rational, and rarely seen, part of her brain was telling her that it didn't really matter if she found an elusive Venonat right now, she just needed to catch _something_, whether it was one of the ones she needed or not. She just needed something to start off with. Besides, deep down, she knew that starting off with a Venonat would be difficult. She was better to start off with something small, like a Pidgey, just like Jack had done.

As if reading her mind, Jack crossed to his friend and offered her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. We'll get you a Pokemon,"

"Thanks, Jack." Ivy said, managing to summon up a genuine smile.

"No problem, love," he said with an airy grace.

After Robert and Sebastian finally agreed to disagree (alongside a fierce wager of lunch to be bought on the one that was proved wrong), the four young adults embarked into Viridian Forest. Neither Jack, who had lived in the bustling suburbs of Saffron all his life, nor Ivy, who had forever been forbidden from entering the forest without the protection of Pokemon, had ever set foot in Viridian Forest. Both were slightly intimidated by the sweeping darkness that encompassed them as they stepped into the thick expanse of trees, teeming with the sounds of rustling leaves, creaking branches and the occasional far-away calls of unseen Pokemon, probably high in the trees or hidden deep in the undergrowth.

Robert and Sebastian seemed totally at their ease, picking their way expertly across the rather treacherous terrain as if it was nothing more than flat pavement. Ivy and Jack followed in their footsteps far more apprehensively, slipping over the thick layer of leaves carpeted on the ground, falling over badly-hidden branches, and jumping at anything that moved or made a sound.

"I was thinking, Jack," Sebastian suddenly ventured, his voice echoing eerily around their empty, dark surroundings. "If we can find some Caterpie or Weedle here, they would be excellent for you to train Phoenix against."

"Oh yeah!" Jack said, thinking that the weak Bug types would be excellent training for his still inexperienced baby Pidgey. "That'd be really good,"

"Excuse me!" Ivy said in mild irritation. "What about me? I still need to _catch _a Pokemon,"

"You will," Sebastian said with a trace of amusement in his voice. "You can take your pick from hundreds in here,"

"Yeah, all Caterpie and Weedle…" Ivy murmured traitorously to herself. Privately she didn't want to get saddled with something like Caterpie and Weedle. She wasn't particularly fond of bugs, and she wasn't even that impressed by the idea of having a Butterfree or a Beedrill. She wasn't an expert, she was the first to admit that, but she had a suspicion that Pokemon like Caterpie and Weedle wouldn't even become that strong, even when they reached their final evolutions. She was painfully aware that the condition and strength of the Pokemon she presented at the end of the three months would hold a lot of weight as to whether she passed or failed. The stronger, and rarer, the extra Pokemon she presented, the more chance she had of passing comfortably.

"All Pokemon have their worth, Ivy," Sebastian said philosophically as he swept aside a low hanging branch to allow the others to pass. "It's all about unleashing their potential,"

Ivy muttered something about "not having the time to unleash potential", but a quick glare from Robert made her bite her tongue and stop complaining. She tried to reassess her situation and get her priorities in order. She needed a Pokemon, _any _Pokemon. She only needed one, just to help her catch others. It didn't really _matter _which one it was, so long as it helped her catch the ones she _did _need.

All the same, she still didn't want a Caterpie or a Weedle.

Unfortunately, while Ivy McKenzie didn't necessarily have a talent for remembering names, dates and faces, she _did _however have a talent for tempting fate…

No sooner had she taken another few steps forward, she was suddenly aware of what felt like something crawling up her back.

With a horrified scream at the presence of something on her back, she rooted herself to the spot completely; arms stiffly by her side and hands clenched, and then continued to scream. The three boys rounded on her immediately.

"What! What's the matter?" Sebastian cried.

"Th-the-there's- there's something on my back!" she squealed, still frozen to the spot and her eyes squeezed firmly shut.

And at that moment, the tiny face of a particularly happy looking Weedle popped up from behind Ivy's shoulder. "Weedle! Weedle!"

Ivy paled, her face turning sickly white. For a second, it almost looked like she was going to faint, but instead, she screamed again. This time, the scream echoed far across the forest, causing a flock of Pidgey to take flight, but the loud, high-pitched noise didn't even seem to bother the Weedle still happily clinging onto her shoulder.

"Well, well, well," Robert said with a slightly sadistic smile while Jack and Sebastian rushed to Ivy's aid. "Looks like we've found Ivy her first Pokemon, huh?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Well, this update officially ends my January hiatus :) A Free Spirits update will follow either tomorrow, or Monday, depending on how long the proof-reading takes. **

**Thanks to everyone who's been patient and who's waited for this update (if anyone O.o), and I would like to apologise for the hiatus again... Updates will be slow, but steady, henceforth. **

**Well, some good news! Ivy catches her first Pokemon next chapter :) I have so much fun torturing that girl :)**

**Thanks to all my readers for last chapter, and to my lovely reviewers. Special thanks go to WildCroconaw, Sniper Mudkip, MasterFreezeman, Shadow Serenity 57, FindMe215, TCoBlackRoses, and Kopycat101.**

**I really hope this update is all right... I've been really panicked about not being able to get back into writing properly, so I really hope it's all right... **

**Thanks guys, for your continued patience :) OceanSpiral out. **


	7. You Can't Choose Your Family

**Chapter 7:  
>You Can't Choose Your Family<strong>

To anyone that had the misfortune of being around the immediate vicinity of that small area of Viridian Forest, they would have been greeted by the sounds of blood-curdling screams that seemed to reverberate off every tree that surrounded the young woman that was making them. The screams were that frightened and terrified that you would be forgiven for thinking someone was being murdered, and in the depths of a dark, mysterious and foreboding forest, that would be the last thing any reasonable person would like to hear.

"Get it off! Get it off! Get it _off_!" Ivy stopped screaming just long enough to squeal frantically, her arms now flailing around uselessly as the Bug Pokemon crawled further and further up her shoulder.

"Hold _still,_ Ivy," Sebastian appealed, trying to get close enough to the screaming girl to help her. When she eventually did still a little, he then attempted to loosen the Weedle from Ivy's shoulder, but the Pokemon stubbornly clung on to the young woman. He sighed, and backed away almost immediately, ignoring Ivy's demands for him to get the Weedle off her. Instead he turned to Jack. "Well, Jack. We should kill two Pidgey with one stone. Use Phoenix to knock out that Weedle. That way, he'll get some battling experience and Ivy can get her first Pokemon."

"I never said I wanted a Weedle!"

"Shut up, and do as you're told, Ivy," Jack said with a wicked grin, pulling out Phoenix's Pokeball. "Phoenix, let's go! Use Tackle attack on the Weedle!"

The Weedle took fright as soon as the young Pidgey appeared on the scene, and dove from Ivy's shoulder to the ground in the hope of escape. But Phoenix was faster, nailing the larva Pokemon straight in the gut. The Pokemon flew back a couple paces, but then steadied itself on its pink feet, looking as if it had barely felt the hit. "Weedle!" it called angrily, before suddenly shooting forward a barrage of sharp stingers that flew straight towards the aloft Pidgey.

"Poison Sting!" Sebastian called warily. "Watch out, that can be nasty!"

However, Jack was already ahead of that. "Come on, Phoenix, dodge it!"

"Pidgey-Pidgey!" Phoenix called as it sailed effortlessly above the incoming attack.

"Good work!" Jack called. "Another Tackle now, go!"

Phoenix's attack was another direct hit, but the Weedle seemed to be impossibly tough, and wasn't giving up. It shot another quick Poison Sting in Phoenix's direction, the baby bird only just able to pull itself up out of the way this time. Jack cursed to himself, lamenting his Pokemon's lack of any other moves than just Tackle. He gave the order anyway, and the bird once again delivered a powerful attack. However, once again, the Weedle was still hanging on.

"That's a tough one," Sebastian said admiringly.

"Either that or his Pidgey is just really weak," Robert deadpanned.

Jack was attempting to ignore the cousins, or at the very least filter out their conversation and focus only on the battle happening in front of him. However, the insult to his Pidgey wasn't helping matters. "Come on Phoenix, hang in there! Tackle again!"

But the baby Pidgey was tiring, and subsequently, its next attack wasn't fast enough. The Weedle took advantage of Phoenix's growing exhaustion, and fired a well aimed Poison Sting that hit the bird square in the face. Jack's heart leapt to his mouth as Phoenix crashed to the ground, the stingers embedded in his plumage. "Phoenix!"

The baby bird gathered itself, shaking its feathers to rid itself of the stingers. Thankfully, although injured from the attack, Poison hadn't set in and Jack, Sebastian and even Ivy found themselves sighing with relief. With a flap of its wings, the bird pushed off into the air again. But this time, with a difference.

No sooner had the little bird become airborne; Phoenix began flapping his wings rapidly. As he did so he somehow managed to kick up gusts of wind, thick with particles of dust and sand throughout them. The winds swept towards the Weedle, encompassing it, swallowing it up in a thick cloud. The Weedle, caught up in the winds, couldn't move, and had its eyes squeezed firmly shut from the winds that were thick with sand particles.

"Is that a Gust attack?" Ivy gasped.

"No, no, it's a Sand Attack," Jack said, unable to hide the beaming, excited grin on his face. "But it means Gust isn't far behind! Now, quick, Phoenix! While it's struggling, use a final Tackle attack! And make it count!"

It was over. The final Tackle was too much for the larva Pokemon to take, and it wobbled ominously on its feet for a few seconds, before collapsing, completely unconscious. Jack fought the urge to punch the air and quickly turned to Ivy.

"Now, Ivy, go! Throw a Pokeball!"

Ivy protested at once. "But I still don't want a Weedle!"

"Just take what you can get for now, Ivy!" Jack said, in an almost exasperated tone. "You _need _a Pokemon! And this Weedle is pretty strong; you could do a lot with it!"

"All right, all right!" She relented, forcefully yanking a Pokeball from her bag. She threw it hard, perhaps harder than she had intended to, and it bounced off the unconscious Pokemon's head, before sucking it in and sealing it inside. Ivy's heart thudded hard against her chest, as the Pokeball twitched back and forward erratically. Despite all common sense, Ivy still found herself irrationally hoping that the Weedle would somehow burst free from the ball. But of course, that didn't happen. The ball dinged, and became motionless, the Weedle trapped inside.

Ivy let out a shaky breath. She, Ivy McKenzie had caught a Weedle.

"Nice one, Ivy," Jack cheered, making the stoic, thoughtful young woman jump at his enthusiastic voice. As he congratulated Ivy, Phoenix came to settle on his shoulder, demanding his attention immediately "And you were brilliant, Phoenix! You learned Sand-Attack!"

"Pidgey-Pidgey!" Phoenix trilled happily at the praise from its trainer.

Ivy still hadn't moved towards the stationary Pokeball sitting only a few feet away from her. She physically couldn't move her limbs. Shock and disbelief at her capture had rooted her entirely to the spot. Sebastian noticed this, and quickly approached the apprehensive young woman. Jack was too preoccupied with Phoenix to notice, and Robert was completely disinterested, so it fell on Sebastian's shoulders to try and talk her around.

"That's a strong Weedle you've got there," He told her, planting a firm reassuring hand on her shoulder. She twitched at the touch, but said nothing. Sebastian frowned a little, before trying a different tactic. "I don't imagine it'll be long before it evolves into a Kakuna. And then a Beedrill after that. That Weedle will make a strong Beedrill, if you train it right."

Ivy made a noncommittal noise.

"Just give it a try," Sebastian said, drawing in a little closer to the young woman. "Trying isn't _always _the first step towards failure, you know? You'd be amazed what you could achieve if you put a little effort into it," he said those words with a peculiar weight to them, like they meant something important to him, before pulling away. The touch of his hand echoed in her shoulder long after he drew away, and Ivy found herself inexplicably wishing he could have left his hand there a little longer.

"Come on, let's get moving," Sebastian instructed a few moments later, after getting Robert and Jack's attention "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

With little other choice, Ivy crossed the slippery leaves and picked up the idle Pokeball. She held the cool metal of the ball in her hands, barely able to believe a Pokemon now lay in there. Her Pokemon…

"Ivy, come on!" Jack called, startling the young woman who hadn't realised she had been dawdling.

At her summons, Ivy quickly stowed the Pokeball away and ran after the three men, the Pokeball feeling like it was burning a hole in the pocket of her cardigan. She tried to ignore the feeling of the Pokeball bouncing against her legs as they continued picking their way across the hazardous terrain of Viridian Forest. They moved quickly and in muffled silence, stopping only to sweep away the occasional low hanging branch, or shoo away the odd Pokemon that dared to get a little too close.

Viridian Forest was unusually quiet, Sebastian thought to himself as he led his cousin and his two travelling partners confidently through the spiralling and winding trails of the dense, dark forest. He knew this forest like the back of his hand, having travelled back and forward through it all his life, and he had never seen it so devoid of life before, both Pokemon and aspiring trainers alike. He cast casual glances behind him at his travelling companions now and again. Ivy looked a little downtrodden, there was what appeared to be a well-practiced serious look on Jack's face, and his cousin looked downright bored, as he always did. He sighed. Sometimes he wondered if he was the only normal person left in the world…

The party progressed further through into Viridian Forest, following Sebastian's expert lead, and after only an hour of travelling emerged at the edge of Viridian City. Jack and Ivy were both exhausted, but Jack was too proud to say so, and since Ivy was making a conscious effort to stop complaining, also stayed quiet. However, as the four trainers eventually emerged from the darkness of Viridian Forest and as the outline of the city rose up from the horizon, they immediately ran into trouble.

And the last person Ivy expected to see.

A fierce Pokemon battle was erupting in front of one of the many houses hinging on the outskirts of Viridian City. Ivy's attention went straight past the young boy with the Sandshrew and instead focused in a mixture of horror and surprise on the lean figure of a young teenage girl with spiky brown hair cropped short and with a particularly vicious looking Mankey hopping madly around her feet. The girl stood with her legs spread apart and arms crossed, eyes narrowed and her head held high in the sheer epitome of confidence, as she instructed her Pokemon with a calm, self-assured air. "Mankey, use Low Kick!"

No sooner had the words left its trainer's mouth, the manic-looking Pokemon suddenly sprung forward on its strong legs, bouncing straight towards the terrified mouse Pokemon.

"Sandshrew, Defence Curl!" The panicked young boy attempted to ensure some kind of protection against the move, but it was useless against the sheer strength of the Fighting Pokemon. The Mankey's attack was so powerful that it uprooted the Sandshrew from the ground, even despite its best efforts to ball itself up and protect itself, and sent it flying through the air, only to crash to the ground seconds later. It didn't get up again.

"Looks like I win," the brunette said happily, stopping to pat her Mankey on the head. Immediately its expression softened, almost to what looked like a smile, and it bounced around her feet like an enthusiastic Growlithe.

The young boy's lip quivered dangerously, but he strode up to the brunette, handed her over a modest pile of notes and coins, turned on his heel, recalled his Sandshrew and calmly walked away, leaving the brunette and the Mankey alone. Ivy's heart plummeted down to somewhere in her stomach. "There's no way…" she murmured softly.

"There's no way what?" Sebastian asked, confused.

The voices behind her suddenly alerted the young brunette to the presence of the four young adults, and she whipped around to investigate. For a second, her face betrayed no emotion, but then, it contorted fiercely. Ivy winced as the young brunette's face became a sheer picture of anger. Without warning, the teenager stormed up to Ivy, and stuck an accusing finger firmly in the older girl's chest.

"What are _you _doing here?" the younger girl demanded.

While Jack, Robert and Sebastian returned a stunned silence at the display, Ivy managed a weak smile in the face of the angered girl. "I could ask the same for you,"

"Training." The younger girl quipped. "Something that _you _could probably stand to do. I heard you haven't even caught a Pokemon yet,"

"I have actually," Ivy retorted snippily, pulling out the Pokeball that now contained her newly captured Weedle. She waved it in the young brunette's face, unable to keep a satisfied smirk from her face.

"How do I know that's not empty?" the teenager challenged Ivy.

"Uh…" Ivy retracted the Pokeball slowly, apprehension building.

"Open it, then. Let me see what's in it."

Ivy flushed furiously, before stowing away the Pokeball. "No."

"That's cos there's nothing in there, isn't it?"

"Excuse me," Sebastian could bear the suspense no longer, and suddenly cut in, effortlessly integrating himself into the conversation. "But who are you?"

The young brunette blinked in surprise at the appearance of the cool, sophisticated red-head that suddenly entered her vision. She was flummoxed only momentarily though, and quickly gathered herself again. "The name's Michaela. Michaela _McKenzie_." She added, heaping purpose onto her last name.

"McKenzie, huh?" Sebastian murmured, nodding his head, making the connection almost immediately. He looked from Ivy to Michaela, marvelling at the almost scary similarities in their looks and kicking himself for not noticing them prior to this.

"_Ivy's little sister. The Pokemon trainer…_" Jack thought to himself, eyeing the tomboyish brunette rudely invading her older sister's personal space. He then turned his gaze on the Mankey still at her feet slightly nervously.

"Yeah, this is my little sister…" Ivy said with a noticeably forced smile. "Michaela, this is Sebastian Rhodes, and his cousin Robert Rhodes. And this is Jack—"

"Jack Hartman," the fifteen year old interrupted smoothly, pointedly settling her eyes on the young teacher-in-training. "Yes, I know _all _about Jack Hartman, Ivy."

Jack grimaced. He really didn't like the insinuations in that statement.

"You're gonna have to do better than just one Pokemon, Ivy." Michaela said with a fierce nod. "Have you even _trained _the Pokemon yet?"

"I just caught it an hour ago…" Ivy mumbled, her words running into an incomprehensible mess.

"Pardon?" Michaela asked, cocking her hand around her ear.

"I only caught it an hour ago." Ivy said, this time louder, her cheeks flushing a brilliant red. She couldn't even look her younger sister in the eye.

Michaela spluttered with laughter at her sister's embarrassment. "You idiot. And I was going to challenge you to a Pokemon battle as well,"

"With that thing?" Ivy cast a nervous glance at the Mankey that had taken out the last trainer's Sandshrew so easily.

"Well, maybe not with Mankey. He's beaten a lot of other trainers since I came through Viridian Forest." Michaela said proudly. "He's a bit tired."

"_That explains why we didn't see any other trainers in Viridian Forest, then._" Sebastian thought to himself, eying the Mankey for himself. It still looked quite young to him, but he couldn't deny it was a strong looking specimen.

"I have other Pokemon I could use to take you on," Michaela said with a smirk, pulling back the folds of her cardigan to reveal a belt with five gleaming Pokeballs swinging from her hips. "And they're all really strong,"

Robert rolled his eyes to himself, but mercifully stayed quiet.

"How long have you been a trainer, Michaela?" Sebastian asked. His tone of voice however held no traces of the conversational tone it normally did.

"Three months, ever since I turned fifteen." Michaela said, nodding her head proudly.

"Three months, huh?" Sebastian said, one eyebrow twitching slightly. "So, you pretty much think you know all there is to know about Pokemon training?"

Michaela looked a little insulted. "Well, I'd like to think I knew a fair bit!"

"Hmm." Robert said, standoffishly, coming to stand by his cousin. "Try being trainers for ten years. Perhaps then you can try boasting. People might actually be impressed by it,"

Ivy winced. Michaela by nature was a hot-headed girl, and she normally never took to being openly mocked or ridiculed, and this time was no exception. Ivy watched as her younger sister's thin, angular face twisted in violent rage. Even the Mankey at her feet picked up on her anger, and its fur began to bristle. Micheale suddenly lunged for a Pokeball tucked away at the back of her belt, and brought it up. "Yeah? You wanna try me?"

"Michaela!" Ivy gasped as her sister suddenly rounded on Robert. "Are you insane? Robert's been a trainer for ten years! There's no way you can beat him!"

Sebastian was shaking his head. Jack looked uncharacteristically worried as he approached Ivy and an angered Michaela. Robert however looked totally calm and collected as the raging girl in front of him, angrily waving her Pokeball at him.

"You really want to challenge a trainer with ten years experience?" Robert asked coolly.

Michaela nodded firmly.

"Even if you're sure you're gonna lose?"

"Who says I'm gonna lose!" Michaela hissed.

"All common sense does." Robert said, with an airy shrug. "All right. I'll battle you. Shall we have a one-on-one?"

"You're on!" Michaela said, quickly recalling her Mankey.

"Robert, you are an idiot." Sebastian said, shaking his head.

"So is my sister," Ivy said through fiercely gritted teeth. "I know she's a hothead, but I would have thought she'd have a _little _more sense than this."

"Robert's just as bad, he should know better than to take on a rookie," Sebastian said with an angry sigh. "He just can't say no to a challenge,"

Ivy sighed exasperated.

"Family, huh?" Sebastian shot Ivy a knowing look.

"Tell me about it," Ivy said with a short smile.

At that point, the battle got underway. Michaela, with as much force as she could muster hurled the Pokeball she was holding. She overbalanced, and almost stumbled as she threw the ball forward, and Ivy had to bite back a laugh. The Pokeball burst open, revealing a small pink, dopey looking Pokemon that yawned comically as soon as it appeared.

"A Slowpoke, huh?" Ivy heard Sebastian murmur from next to her. "Interesting choice,"

Ivy, who knew next to nothing about the Pokemon that her sister had just released, merely nodded and exchanged a glance with Jack, who looked just as taken aback as she felt. Robert however stood calmly at the opposite end of the battlefield. Then, all of a sudden, his hand flew to his belt and with a flash, had produced a Pokeball, seemingly from nowhere. It all happened so fast that neither Ivy nor Jack caught the motion, and were flummoxed when the young man was suddenly holding onto a Pokeball.

"_I wonder what Pokemon he's going to use against that Slowpoke_," Sebastian thought to himself, mentally cycling through the Pokemon he knew, or at the very least suspected, his cousin was carrying. It was a question both Ivy and Jack were puzzling over too, but a fiercely determined Michaela wasn't even bothered.

Well, not until Robert casually let the Pokeball he was holding drop to the ground, revealing Michaela and Slowpoke's opponent. No sooner had he seen the Pokemon his cousin had chosen, Sebastian mentally sunk his head into his hands.

"Vile! Vileplume!"

"You've got to be kidding me…" Ivy said in awe.

"He's not…?" Jack was shocked.

"He's using a Vileplume…?" horror had permeated Michaela's voice as she stared down her opponent.

"He's an idiot," Sebastian deadpanned.

Ivy studied her sister's reactions intently as Michaela suddenly drew herself back up to her full height and crossed her arms firmly. "No matter!" she called out, her voice wavering only slightly. "I can still win!"

Ivy shook her head. Sometimes her sister took false bravado just that step too far.

"You sure you still want to do this?" Robert asked, as his nonchalantly calm Vileplume shifted from foot to foot in the face of the Slowpoke.

Yes!" Michaela cried out with a fierce nod.

"Very well then," Robert said, looking down at his Pokemon. "Vileplume, get ready."

"Vile!"

Robert swept his hand across the battlefield. "The first move is yours."

Ivy wholly expected her sister to deny the opportunity for the first move, claim she didn't need it to win, but she sprung into action straight away. "Slowpoke, start off the battle with a Confusion!"

"Slooow!"

Slowpoke summoned the necessary energy for the attack, and fired a weak telekinetic shock at the overgrown plant Pokemon. Ivy was shocked when Robert said or did nothing, simply stood his ground, as did the Vileplume. The attack hit Robert's Pokemon head on, but the Pokemon barely even flinched as the attack struck.

"…what?" Michaela said in shock as the Vileplume shook itself slightly, looking no different from before the attack had even hit. The dopey look even slipped off the Slowpoke's face to be replaced with one that Ivy swore was worry.

"You call that an attack?" Robert asked sceptically, one eyebrow raised. His voice was oddly calm, betraying no emotion, or even changing slightly in pitch or tempo. "We'll show you what a real attack is. Vileplume, use Mega Drain!"

The plant Pokemon struck before Ivy even detected its movement. If it was difficult for a human to pick up on its movement, it was impossible for the dopey Slowpoke to notice. The Vileplume struck with the powerful draining move, almost immediately sapping the entirety of the Slowpoke's energy. However, at its master's orders to stop, it leapt back, leaving an almost unconscious Slowpoke teetering uncertainly on its feet.

"Slowpoke! Can you attack?" Michaela cried.

"Slooow…" the Pokemon said wearily, its eyes lidded and its whole body shaking.

"Are you serious?" Robert asked, frowning deeply as he looked at the Pokemon. "I asked Vileplume to stop because I didn't want him to hurt your Slowpoke too much. But it's obvious it can't attack. Look at it. It can barely stand."

Ivy could tell by the look on her younger sister's face that Michaela knew that what Robert was saying was true, but certainly didn't want to succumb to it. Michaela's hands clenched into tight firsts, and a deep, angry frown was eroding her normally pale and pretty face. "Slowpoke, come on! Attack!"

"No," Robert said firmly. "Your Pokemon can't attack. You've lost. If you force your Pokemon to attack now, that's abuse."

"What?" Michaela cried, recoiling back sharply, her eyes widening.

"Forcing a Pokemon that can barely stand to attack is abuse," Robert said firmly, pulling out a Pokeball and recalling his Vileplume. "I'm not going to stand here and argue with you. And I'm certainly not going to put that Slowpoke out of its misery either, because that will be cruel. I think you need to reassess what you think being a Pokemon trainer is all about, Michaela McKenzie. You're no more experienced or fit to preach about being experienced than that sister of yours," he cast a meaningful look in Ivy's direction before turning on his heel and stalking off in the direction of Viridian City.

"Oh no…" Sebastian groaned, before calling after his cousin and giving frantic chase.

Jack cast a look at the McKenzie siblings, then back at the disappearing Rhodes cousins, before deciding he was likely to cause less damage following them instead of hanging around making it awkward for the siblings. He pursued them straight away, leaving the two young women alone.

Michaela dejectedly recalled her Slowpoke, murmuring words of apology into the red capsule, before minimizing it and stowing it away. She then turned her back on her sister. However, contrary to what Ivy had wholly expected, the fifteen year old remained where she was, instead of running off.

For a long painful moment of silence, Ivy didn't know what to say or do. She didn't even know if she _should_ say or do anything. Her relationship with her younger sister wasn't brilliant, as was the case with her older sister and to an extent, her younger brother, but with Michaela it was particularly strained and tense. However, Ivy still couldn't ignore the sight of her younger sister in distress, and so began approaching her warily.

"Michaela?" Ivy whispered, as she took those first tentative steps forward.

"Leave me alone." Michaela said thickly.

"No, I won't leave you alone," Ivy said firmly. "You're my sister, I—"

"I don't need you looking out for me all the time," Michaela rounded on her sister, tears stinging at her eyes. "I'm fifteen years old and I'm a better Pokemon trainer than you! So I don't _need _a babysitter!"

"I never said you needed a babysitter," Ivy said, approaching her younger sister, suddenly aware of the scary fact that Michaela, four years her junior, was now actually taller than her. She swallowed and carried on. "But you need your sister right now." She surmised. And then she wrapped her arms around her younger sister, bringing her into the first hug the siblings had shared in almost two years. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Robert's a bit… hot-headed like that…"

Michaela said nothing. Her shoulders were shaking, and Ivy detected a slight wetness form on her shoulder where her sister's face was currently pressed against. She hugged her Michaela closer, murmuring what little words of comfort she knew how to give.

The two siblings stayed like that for quite some time, until Michaela eventually calmed down, and pulled away from her older sister, her face reddening. Ivy wasn't sure if it was caused from the upset, or the embarrassment the tough young hothead felt for breaking down in front of her. A fond smile crept across Ivy's face. Her sister wasn't that bad of a girl, after all. It was nice to know she hid a heart and emotions under that tough, tomboyish exterior.

"Come on," Ivy said, threading her hand through her younger sister's and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "We better go get back to the boys."

Michaela looked a little nervous, her dull grey eyes widening with alarm.

"They're not bad people, really." Ivy managed to muster up a smile. "Jack is fantastic, Sebastian is lovely, and Robert is just…" she paused, unable to come up with a suitable way to describe him. "Robert is just Robert," she eventually surmised.

"Robert and Sebastian are really tough trainers, aren't they?" Michaela asked softly, as the sisters began the short scenic walk up to Viridian City.

"Yeah…" Ivy nodded. "Jack and I are really lucky we ran into them. The two of us only have a Pidgey and a Weedle between us. There's no way we could do anything without some proper trainers looking after us."

Michaela had to fight to bite back a laugh at what her older sister had just said, but she was feeling strangely at peace with Ivy and didn't particularly want to ruin it. Michaela's quick temper had always ensured a struggle to get on with her three siblings, especially the ditzy airheaded Ivy, but this was a welcome change for the fifteen year old. She looked up at her older sister, her mind ticking over. "How strong do you think Robert and Sebastian really _are_?"

"I don't know," Ivy said truthfully, as the grassy surroundings began to slowly melt into the familiar grey stone of city life once again. "I've only seen two of Sebastian's Pokemon, and only one of Robert's. But Sebastian is supposed to be having a rematch with the Viridian City Gym Leader…"

"Seriously?" Michaela gasped.

"Seriously."

"I've gotta see that!" Michaela cried enthusiastically. "Oh, Ivy, please can I see it?"

"W-well, that's not really my decision!" Ivy said truthfully. "I'm not even sure spectators are allowed to watch. I'm not even sure Sebastian would _like _people watching him…"

Michaela looked a little dejected.

"I'll ask him though," Ivy shot her little sister a wink.

Michaela smiled. "Thanks, sis."

"No problem," Ivy replied with a smile. "Now, come on, we better catch up to them. I need to go to the Pokemon centre. My Weedle needs healing…" she added, with a humourless laugh, still not used to tacking on a possessive particle to "Weedle" just yet.

"Yeah, my Pokemon need healing too after Viridian Forest and that battle with Robert…" Michaela said thoughtfully. Then seconds later, a wide grin spread across her face. "Hey! Maybe after I get my Pokemon healed I can challenge you?"

"No chance!" Ivy said with a genuine laugh this time. "You're too strong for me, I think! Maybe try Jack? He wants to try training his Pidgey?"

"Maybe," Michaela said, genuinely considering it, much to Ivy's amusement. "Do you think he'll be much of a challenge?"

Ivy didn't even have to think about it. "Probably not."

Michaela let out a burst of laughter, the thin cropped spikes of her hair bobbing along with her. "Better not let him hear that! You're so mean to say that!"

"Hey, he's mean to me _all _the time; it makes a change me being mean to _him_."

Michaela just shook her head, at a loss of what to say.

"Now come on, let's go." Ivy insisted, tugging on her sister. "Stop dawdling."

"Jeez," Michalea said with a smile. "You're starting to get even bossier than Lily-Mae… that's a frightening thought," she then remarked to herself.

However, despite her initial reluctance, she followed her older sister happily enough straight into the modest city of Viridian, where, after a short search, the two girls were reunited with Jack and the Rhodes cousins outside the Pokemon Centre. However, the three men weren't alone.

Even Ivy, who knew next to nothing about the world of Pokemon, couldn't fail to recognise the man engaged in casual conversation with a laughing Sebastian, a nonchalant Robert and a highly shocked Jack.

Viridian City's Gym Leader himself. The expert Pokemon trainer, rumoured to be the toughest Gym Leader in all of Kanto _and _Johto, a man that some thought was near Elite Four level, and one of the most respected and well known figures in the world of Pokemon training. A man that was known throughout the entirety of Kanto by one name only.

Blue.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Even though I know quite a bit happens in this chapter, I still feel like nothing of importance actually happens here...**

**But, Ivy caught her first Pokemon, that's something right? And there is the introduction of Michaela McKenzie, who may or may not end up being a central character. I'm not sure yet...**

**I know these past chapters have been kinda filler-y, but after the next couple chapters, we'll get into the proper "going around Kanto looking for the list Pokemon" part of the story. **

**So, big thanks to my readers and my reviewers. **

**Special thanks go to MasterFreezeman, Sniper Mudkip, WildCroconaw, Shadow Serenity 57, TCO BlackRoses and Sunbean. I really love getting your reviews, guys, they mean a heck of a lot to this author that's currently struggling a bit with writer's block and self-esteem stuff. *shot***

**So, please read and review if you can! **


	8. Clash of the Titans

**Chapter 8  
>Clash of the Titans<strong>

There was a long, uneasy, stunned silence as the two young women fixed their eyes firmly on the man standing only a short way from them.

"Ivy…" Michaela whispered hoarsely. "Am I seeing things…?"

"I…" Ivy's mouth hung open in disbelief. "I don't _think _so… Unless we're _both _seeing things… But that wouldn't make any sense… there's no way _both _of us could make up the exact same thing at the exact same time… Not unless we were in… like a mutual dream state or something…? You think that's possible…?"

Michaela responded by shooting her sister an incredulous look and angrily questioning her sanity.

Ivy apologised meekly.

Letting out another exasperated sigh at her ditzy older sister, Michaela attempted to bring them back to reality "But look, it's Blue, Ivy! Blue!"

"I know…" Ivy said in bewilderment.

Ivy wasn't going to lie. The idea that she could possibly be meeting Blue had been circling her mind for quite some time, but she certainly hadn't expected the encounter to be this soon! Still in shock, she glanced at her sister once more, who returned an almost identical look of pure, unmitigated amazement. That was almost a feat in itself, Ivy inexplicably found herself thinking. Her motor-mouth of a little sister actually lost for words. That wasn't something that came around all that often, and it only seemed to serve to make the whole thing that much more unbelievable.

It was at that point that Sebastian began waving enthusiastically across to them at the front of the Pokemon Centre doors. Michaela let out a little squeak, and looked up at her sister. "Is he waving at us…?" she asked in awe.

Ivy stared at Sebastian who was still gesticulating madly, motioning for them to come over. She swallowed. "I think so, yeah…"

"But that's… that's Viridian City's Gym Leader he's with! I mean, I knew I said I wanted to see him, but I never thought I might get to _meet_ him!"

Ivy took in a deep breath and pulled herself up to her full height. "Well, let's not hang around here like star-struck fangirls—"

"Even if we sort of are?" Michaela asked, her eyes comically widened.

"You may be, I'm not!" Ivy attempted to say as primly and matter-of-factly, but it was a wasted effort. Both she and her sister knew she was just merely putting up a front. While she may have not have been an avid fangirl, per se, of the famed Viridian City Gym Leader, she was most certainly star-struck, and more than a little intimidated at the sheer sight of him. Ivy wasn't the type of girl to know a lot about Pokemon training or any of the figureheads associated with it, but in a world of such heightened media interest, there was no way anyone could go through life without having at least _heard _of Blue and his exploits and reputation of being the strongest Gym Leader in all of Kanto and Johto. But perhaps the most amazing thing of all was just how _ordinary _Blue looked in real life. On the television he seemed to carry such an air of confidence and poise, but seeing him, even from a distance, he looked just like any other unremarkable man. In fact, that made Ivy even _more _nervous. She knew what a good trainer Blue was. _Everyone _knew what a good trainer Blue was. So, how could someone with so much power and strength look so unremarkable?

"Can… can we go and speak to him…?" Michaela's voice was barely above a whisper now. She certainly was making no effort to keep secret the fact she was star-struck anymore…

"Well, we can't really hang around here like spare lemons," Ivy muttered, plastering a fake smile on her face as she looked across to where Sebastian _and_ Jack were now enthusiastically waving them over.

"I can't believe I'm going to meet Blue!" Michaela squealed excitedly as the two of them began the walk across to the guys.

"Well d-don't show me up!" Ivy hissed at her younger sister, mentally cringing at Michaela's fangirl tendencies. However, while Ivy warned her sister to behave, she had to admit she wasn't all too confident in her _own _abilities to not show herself up.

"Hey," Sebastian called cheerily as the two girls nervously approached the group of boys. "You made it."

"Eventually," Jack intercepted, with a teasing smile.

Ivy, pointedly ignoring Jack's quip at her expense, found herself oddly incapable of speech as she fixed her eyes upon the rather calm, yet still imposing figure of the Viridian City Gym Leader. When Ivy glanced at her sister, looking for a little assistance, Michaela looked completely dumbstruck, evidently completely incapable of speech. Ivy mentally groaned, wishing she could either get her mouth to engage and make it look like she wasn't _completely _stupid, or somehow will the earth to rise up and swallow her whole…

Thankfully, Sebastian came to her rescue. "These are the sisters I was telling you about, Blue," he said, waving his hand casually in their direction.

"Nice to meet you," Blue said pleasantly, his voice calm and assured as he addressed them, shooting them a warm smile.

Ivy felt her sister flinch at Blue's voice, and she had to struggle to keep herself from laughing at her sister's uncharacteristic behaviour. Instead, she compromised by summoning up a smile in return. Privately, she thought that this Gym Leader seemed a lot calmer and mellower than she had been lead to believe he was. He had always been presented, both in the media and in history as a rather cocky and arrogant individual. However, here he seemed calm and pleasant, almost scarily similar to Sebastian.

Michaela was still stupidly star-struck, her eyes widened and her jaw hanging comically open like an ensnared Magikarp. At this point, Ivy couldn't resist glancing in Jack's direction, and they both giggled as they unanimously caught sight of the rather gormless look adorning the younger sister's face. Robert, still looking decidedly unimpressed, folded his arms and let out a haughty sigh, shaking his head in disdain.

It was at this point that Blue seemed to fixate himself solely on Sebastian. He turned to look at his old friend, an easy expression of cool nonchalance spreading over his face. When he spoke, his voice held an official, almost business-like tone. "I'm glad you could come for our battle again, Sebastian."

"Me too," Sebastian said with a knowing smile. "You are, after all, one of the only trainers that can present a good fight for me,"

"Oh, we are a cocky one, aren't we?" Blue said with a mischievous grin. "That could be your downfall one day, my friend."

"You're one to talk," Sebastian quipped back expertly.

Blue nodded. "Well, there's no sense in beating around the bush. We may as well get right down to business."

"Of course," Sebastian nodded. "I hope you won't mind some spectators, though…" he said, turning to eye the rest of their odd little party, particularly Michaela, Jack and Ivy.

"Not at all," Blue said warmly. "I do know you love showing off,"

Sebastian laughed in a good-humoured fashion, before clapping his hand on Blue's back and telling him to lead the way in. He then motioned to the others, who obediently followed in his wake into the Gym. Jack, looking thoroughly bemused, but still relatively at ease to be entering the Gym, led the way, whilst Michaela and Ivy exchanged bewildered looks before nervously following suit, and finally a wholly disinterested Robert brought up the rear.

The odd little travelling party followed Blue effortlessly through a series of darkened corridors, rooms and doors until eventually they emerged in a giant arena. It was quite possibly the biggest indoor battling arena any of the three amateur trainers had ever seen, and resounding gasps issued from all three of them as soon as they set foot into its intimidating open space. While Jack paid attention to the distinctive Roman-style décor and architecture, impressive pillars, ancient mural and brown colour scheme, Ivy and Michaela were simply so stunned by the sheer amount of open space and the stunningly high ceilings that the décor didn't even register in their minds. In fact, they were so astounded by the whole thing that Robert had to bark at them to get off the battlefield and into the bleachers if they didn't want to get themselves killed when the battle got underway.

While Blue and Sebastian positioned themselves at either end of the massive battlefield, Ivy sat nervously, almost rigidly, in the stands of the imposing surroundings of the Viridian City Gym. To her left, sat Robert, who was still doing his best impression of a particularly emotionless statue, barely even acknowledging the scene unfolding in front of him. While waiting for the proctor to appear, Blue had approached the older Rhodes cousin, propositioning him also for a battle, but Robert had denied this chance, stating that he "couldn't be bothered". He had then retired to the stands looking as if this was the last place on earth he wanted to be. To Ivy's left however, and a total opposite to the stoic and emotionless Robert, Michaela was a bundle of nervous energy, completely elated at the privilege of being permitted to see a battle of this calibre. Jack also looked uncharacteristically excited, squeezing the Pokeball that held his beloved Phoenix as he eagerly looked down.

Looking at the Pokeball that Jack was holding suddenly sent a shock through Ivy's body. It was with suddenness she remembered her own Pokeball, containing her very own tiny little Weedle. A lump rose in her throat and she bit her lip furiously. The feeling of the Pokeball against her leg burned like fire, and she found herself wishing that it wasn't there…

With a sudden shout from the Gym Proctor, the battle suddenly officially seemed to get under way. Sebastian still looked as cool, calm and sophisticated as ever, while Blue held a look of quiet confidence, offering his opponent a grin and a handshake.

"This will be a six-on-six Pokemon battle between leader Blue and challenger Sebastian." The proctor called out, his voice rising clearly like the cry of a Pidgeot. "There will be no items or no time limit. You may not substitute Pokemon. And… begin!"

The word had no sooner left the proctor's mouth when Blue, in an almost indecipherably fast movement pulled a Pokeball from his belt and released a Pokemon. On the release of Blue's first Pokemon, Ivy, Jack _and _Michaela all promptly almost fell off their seats.

With an ear-piercing roar that seemed to echo and reverberate right around the entire battlefield, a giant dark shadow fell across the arena as the Pokemon was released. The darkened silhouette soon showed its true colours and the intimidating figure of a gigantic blue serpentine Pokemon was revealed. With another vicious roar, Ivy shrieked, Michaela gasped and Jack fell backwards off his seat. Robert however cast the three amateur trainers looks of disdain and continued to look as if the whole situation was boring him.

When she finally calmed down, Ivy looked at Jack and Michaela in pure shock. "That's… that's a Gyarados…" Ivy said in sheer awe.

Jack, who normally would not have hesitated at the opportunity for a sarcastic quip at Ivy's expense at the obviousness of her statement, could not even bring himself to do so, so amazed he was at the sight of the giant Pokemon. (The fact also remained that he was in no position to mock Ivy, considering he had been the one to fall backwards off his seat on the benches in the stands) Even the perpetually loud Michaela was stunned into rare silence.

"What on earth is Sebastian going to use against a _Gyarados_?" Ivy asked hoarsely to no-one in particular.

"I don't even know…" Jack sounded equally lost for words.

"Oh please. Gyarados aren't that great," Robert deadpanned, looking as unimpressed as ever.

Ignoring the remarks of the perpetually apathetic Robert, Ivy, Jack and Michaela turned their eager eyes onto the scene unfolding in front of them. Sebastian looked surprisingly calm in the face of his intimidating opponent, plucking a Pokeball from his belt almost lazily. Ivy's heart inexplicably leapt, a strange, alien excitement flooding her senses. What kind of amazing battle was she about to see? A battle between the rumoured most powerful Gym Leader in all of Kanto and Johto, and a man who enjoyed a close personal friendship with said Gym leader, and was coming back for what appeared to be only one rematch of many… She didn't know what the outcome was going to be, but there was one thing she did know.

That it was going to be downright awesome.

Her suspicions proved right.

While Ivy expected the battle to wage for hours on end, the 6-on-6 battle was actually over in a surprisingly short amount of time. Each trainer had their Pokemon trained and primed to almost perfection, their strengths and abilities evident. Their battles were smooth and fluid, Blue and Sebastian both utilising their surroundings, their Pokemon's unique moves and abilities and the years of experience they had to their advantages. It was impossible to tell at any given time which trainer would eventually emerge the victor, as both young men were relentless forces, clawing back the upper hand sometimes in even the most unlikely of instances. It was clear anything could happen, and no-one's victory could be ensured or even predicted.

For the first round, Sebastian sent out a Skarmory to deal with the tour de force that was the Gyarados that Blue had sent out. Skarmory, although blessed with great defence and speed, had little attack force and nothing powerful enough to break through the Gyarados's own high defences. Sebastian knew this, and took advantage of what Skarmory _did _have to tire and wear down the giant Gyarados, forcing it to exhaust itself executing move after move in an attempt to hit the wicked fast Flying type. A combination of Agility to rack up the Skaramory's speed, followed by a barrage of Sand-Attacks to lower Gyarados's accuracy was all that Sebastian needed. He then ordered an all out offence, paying no heed to the attacks Blue was having Gyarados use. His Skarmory had such a high defence that any attacks used against it seemed to do little to no damage at all initially. Proceeding from this, Sebastian ordered a bombardment of Air Slash and Night Slash to gradually wear down the Gyarados's guard. But Gyarados too had a vicious arsenal of attacks, and after a long, bloody dual between the two Pokemon, the Skarmory eventually fell to the ground, defeated.

Sebastian however did not seem worried at his first loss, and when a horrified Ivy turned to Robert, looking for reassurance, Robert only shook his head in exasperation. "This is how he works, Ivy. This is the way he battles. He doesn't go for the all-out powerhouse attacks. He sets things up, he works slowly, he makes strategies… Sure he may sacrifice a Pokemon here and there, but it's all for a reason. Just trust me."

Ivy understood what Robert meant by the time the next bout was over. Sebastian's next Pokemon was a Venomoth. Even Ivy knew for a fact there was no way a puny Bug type like Venomoth with no heightened attack or defence could stand up to a Gyarados, but Sebastian was entirely calm about the whole affair, ordering Venomoth to use a Sleep Powder. Ordinarily, a Pokemon like Venomoth would be swept aside as if it were nothing by the sheer power of a Gyarados, but Blue's Gyarados, so exhausted and worn down from the battle with the Skarmory couldn't attack fast enough and fell victim to the incapacitating move. Just like that, with one single move, the Gyarados had been taken out.

Despite his eventual success against the Gyarados, the next battle did not go in Sebastian's favour. Blue unleashed a vicious Rhyperior. Sebastian's Venomoth barely lasted a full minute on the battlefield, despite Sebastian's best efforts to incapacitate it with a Supersonic and a Sleep Powder. The Rhyperior simply rampaged out of the way of the incoming attacks and struck with a powerful Stone Edge, knocking the delicate moth Pokemon to the ground, completely defeated.

Sebastian recuperated in the following round, sending his Exeggutor into battle, which dominated the Rock type with a series of Leaf Storms. With the scores tied, a noticeable shift in atmosphere spread across the gym arena. Blue's next Pokemon was a Tyranitar that immediately took the advantage as it summoned a vicious sandstorm as soon as it was released. The Exeggutor, blinded by the sandstorm, couldn't even see clearly enough to attack the Tyranitar encompassed in its protective sandy shroud. Sebastian took a stab in the dark, sending out a Hypnosis in the hope of catching the Tyranitar, but his efforts proved fruitless. The Tyranitar then took full advantage of its dark type moves to knock out the dual Grass and Psychic type within only a few short minutes.

Sebastian sent in his Tentacruel following this, but much to Ivy and Jack's amazement, Sebastian did not initially use his Pokemon's Water type moves to his advantage. He chose to have Tentacruel safeguard itself with a Barrier, then use Screech to lower the Tyranitar's heavy guard and solid defences. While Tyranitar hit back hard, Tentacruel hung on long enough to use Scald, a move which inflicted a burn on the massive dual Rock and Dark type. Upon Tentacruel's defeat, Sebastian sent in Kangaskhan. Luckily for Kangaskhan, it had very little to do against the Tyranitar apart from to dodge its attacks as the burn damage eventually wore down its health, causing it to eventually faint from sheer exhaustion and pain from its burn.

Sebastian's luck held out for the following round, even against the odds, Blue's Pidgeot failing to be any decent competition. Kangaskhan used a combination of brutally physical moves, including Mega Punch, Double Hit and a particularly powerful Rage to take out the giant bird Pokemon whenever it swooped in close for an attack. However, in the following round, Kangaskhan went down to Blue's Machamp. The Normal type didn't stand a chance against a relentless force of Fighting type moves. However, in retaliation, Sebastian scraped back a victory using his Arcanine to inflict massive burn damage on the Fighting type.

The final battle consisted of Sebastian's Arcanine versus Blue's Charizard. For a long time, the two trainers simply stared each other out on the battlefield, making no move or even any _indication _they would move. Then, all of a sudden, they both sprang into action. Wheels and plumes of flames suddenly erupted and burst all over the battlefield, igniting in the cool air and sending vibrant displays of orange and red dazzling across Ivy, Jack and Michaela's vision, making them recoil in a strange mix of wonder and fear. The Pokemon threw themselves bodily at each other, clashing in a violent battle of claws, paws and streams of burning fire. This battle of the titans went on for a considerable amount of time amidst a burning backdrop of exploding flames.

Eventually, the battle ended when Charizard snatched the victory from Sebastian's grasp with a vicious Air Slash, followed by a crushing Dragon Rage. Arcanine wavered uncertainly on its paws before its eyes rolled back into its head and it collapsed. Sebastian went to his Pokemon's side immediately, not even acknowledging his victorious opponent, while Jack, Ivy and Michaela, who all realised they had been holding their breath for the final few seconds of the battle, let out heavy, resigned sighs.

Sebastian, after murmuring words of comfort and thanks to his Arcanine, recalled the exhausted Fire type and stood up to meet his old rival. He held out his hand and accepted his defeat with a firm handshake.

"I believe the score is now 51-49 to you?" Sebastian said, his face nonchalant, betraying no emotion.

Blue nodded. "I believe so."

Despite himself, a smile tugged at the corner of Sebastian's mouth. "I will catch up to you, you know?"

Blue was smiling now too, his face looking surprisingly open and friendly with the addition of such a warm smile. "Oh, I know." He said offhandedly, with a cheery wave of his hand. He then cast a glance upwards towards Ivy, who had left her seat at the stands to approach Sebastian. She had suddenly been afraid Sebastian would have taken his loss badly, but upon seeing his smile as she got closer, had stopped in his tracks. Now, with both Blue and Sebastian now staring at her, she felt stupidly nervous and sheepish.

"Uhm…" she stuttered apprehensively under the watchful and rather intimidating eye of the young Gym Leader. "Sebastian… are you okay?"

"I'm just fine," Sebastian said with a smile, his eyes flicking back to look at Blue. "It's been a long time since I had a battle that exciting, so it's fine. Besides… there's a reason they made Blue the Gym Leader. He's good. He's very good. Not even experienced trainers like me have much of a chance of winning…"

"Oh…" was all Ivy could say, now feeling incredibly foolish and wishing she could just slink away back into the stands again. "Well, so long as you're okay…"

"He'll be just fine," Blue intercepted, slapping a hand on Sebastian's back. He perhaps put a little too much force behind it than he intended to, as Sebastian noticeably winced in pain. "He's a good guy. And a good battler too. Very rarely do I get a challenger who's good enough to take me down to my last Pokemon."

"Oh…" Ivy squeaked.

"Who knows, though?" Blue said with another good-natured smile. "You're a Pokemon trainer too, right? Maybe one day _you'll _give me a run for my money?"

"Eh?"

"Yeah," Blue nodded. "Anyone who hangs around the Rhodes cousins has to be good, or at least have the _potential _to be good. And maybe in 6 months, a year, two years, however long it takes, you'll be at that stage too. And if you ever are, I want you to come challenge me. I don't get many good opponents."

"But I'm not really that interested in battling…" Ivy blurted out before she could stop herself. "I've never… even…battled before…" she said, her voice slowly trailing off and diminishing into nothingness as she realised that that probably wasn't the cleverest thing to say in presence of a gym leader...

"Give it some time," Blue said, looking down at the young woman in front of him with a gentle smile. "Give it some time, think it over, try some battling… if you like it, good. Keep battling. Become a great trainer. And then come back and battle me. Okay?"

"Uh… okay?"

"Good. I'll hold you to that,"

And with that, the Gym Leader turned on his heel, motioned for Sebastian to follow him, and the two young men disappeared into the back of the Gym, leaving a very bemused Ivy in their wake.

For a few moments, Ivy was incapable of coherent thought, let alone speech or movement. When she finally regained some control over herself, the first thought that came to her mind made her want to mentally facepalm. "_Oh, shit._ _What the hell did I just agree to there…?_"

"Ivy!"

Suddenly, an excitable blur collided with her, and Michaela and Jack appeared by her side. Ivy almost didn't even register their presence until Michaela began noisily demanding her older sister's attention.

"What was all that about?" Michaela asked, jabbing her dumbfounded sister impatiently in the side. "Ivy! What happened there?"

"I… I think I just got challenged by the Viridian City Gym Leader…"

There was a moment's silence. Jack and Michaela exchanged equally confused looks, before Michaela let out a haughty sigh and crossed her arms firmly. "Oh, don't be ridiculous, Ivy! What on earth would the Viridian city Gym Leader, the strongest Gym Leader in the _whole _of Kanto—"

"And Johto," Jack added.

"_And _Johto…" Michaela added, nodding in Jack's direction. "…want to challenge a rookie who's barely been on the road a week? You only have one Pokemon! A _Weedle_, for goodness sake! You must have been mistaken."

Ivy opened her mouth to argue, but snapped it shut a few seconds later, thinking better of it. "Yeah… I guess I must have been."

"Exactly," Michaela said with a swift nod. "Jeez, Ivy, you really are a _ditz _sometimes…"

"Yeah…" Ivy replied noncommittally, her eyes fixated on the empty spot where Blue and Sebastian had just been standing. "A ditz…"

"Look, you're even zoning out right now…" Michaela said with another sigh. "Even after that _amazing _battle, you're still zoning out. Didn't you see what happened there? That was _incredible_! They're both so strong! I've never seen trainers that strong before! I mean—"

Ivy stopped listening at this point. Her sister carried on blithely in the background, positively gushing in enthusiasm and excitement over the display they had just seen, but Ivy had gone past the point of caring. Her mind was awash with bizarre thoughts, seeping through her brain and making a strange icy cold feeling take over her body. She couldn't help but wonder about what Blue had said to her. Why her? Why did Blue see some manner of potential in _her _of all people? She didn't even _want _to be a trainer… Was it something as simple as because she associated with people like Sebastian and Robert? Or could there be something else involved too…? Something that Blue could see or tell, but Ivy herself wasn't aware of…?

These thoughts remained stubbornly ingrained in the depths of her mind for the rest of the day. Not even the walk to the Pokemon Centre proved enough to sober her up. As they all checked in to the Pokemon Centre and walked to their respective rooms, she still could not shake what had seemed to have planted firm roots in her mind. Even when she and Jack began planning their itinerary for the following day, the thoughts were still prominent. She barely even listened as Jack worked out their plan of action, which he simply described as heading straight to Viridian forest for a combination of training and to begin looking for the first Pokemon on Ivy's list, a Pidgey.

Her mind still refused to be stilled even when Sebastian returned from the Viridian City gym, and the odd little party of five sat down for a meal together. Michaela, still smarting from her loss to Robert earlier in the day, oozed hostility towards the older of the Rhodes' cousins, but at least remained in control of herself, choosing instead to continue her enthusiastic gushing in Sebastian's direction. Ivy privately expected the younger Rhodes cousin to get tired of her sister's incessant jabbering and compliments, but he proved a patient man, listening to the younger McKenzie sibling's awed questions, and providing some helpful advice on how to win a battle without having to rely on brute strength alone. While Ivy did recognise it was good advice and being given away for free, it probably could have been a good idea to listen in, especially since Jack was paying close attention as well, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

When night fell, and it was eventually time to turn in, Ivy's mind was no closer to being settled. She lay awake for hours, mulling over Blue's words, turning them over, searching for some sort of deeper meaning. What Blue had said had affected her in a way that she had never expected it to. Blue was a hotshot Gym Leader, who probably knew Pokemon better than he knew himself…

"_People like Blue don't say stuff like that for the hell of it,_" Ivy thought, turning over in her bed for what felt like the millionth time that night. "_Even hanging around people like Sebastian and Robert wouldn't make him say that, right…? When you're a Pokemon trainer, it's not _who _you know, it's _what _you know, surely… Just like everything else in life…_"

At this point, Ivy let out a low groan of frustration into the charcoal black surroundings of their Pokemon Centre room and punched the pillow feebly. From the other bed, Jack murmured something in his sleep, snorted, rolled over and began to snore. Loudly. Another groan escaped Ivy and she jammed her pillow over her head in an attempt to block out the noise. It didn't work.

"Jack!" She hissed, only a few seconds later. "Will you shut up? There's normal people trying to sleep here!"

He responded by letting out an even louder snore.

"Oh, I hate you sometimes!" Ivy muttered vehemently, haphazardly tossing her pillow at Jack's slumbering figure. The pillow veered completely off course, sailed over Jack and ended up at the opposite end of the room. "Oh, really?" she groaned, beating both closed fists onto the bed. "The universe hates me…"

Trying to ignore the minor annoyances, Ivy lay there for a few moments longer, carefully deliberating. "_Okay, well… maybe Blue really _does _see something in me… I don't know _why _or _how _though… But I guess that's kinda nice… To have someone like him believe I could actually be good at this… Especially when no-one, not even me… believes I could ever be good at this… Or good at much of anything, really… I guess I proved that already…_"

Feeling bitter, she rolled over again, this time onto her back, before letting out another colossal sigh. Jack's snoring had reached record decibel levels, and Ivy could already see the light beginning to slowly creep in from outside. The sun was already coming up. Ivy groaned once more and her mind began to tick over again. "_Well, I can't sleep… And if Blue really thinks there's something in me that could have some potential… there's no reason why I shouldn't maybe try and see if I can… I dunno… try my hand at this Pokemon battling and catching thing for myself…?"_

Her mind made up, Ivy pushed back the duvet, slipped out of bed and dressed quickly. She had to remind herself to stop and pick up her new Weedle's Pokeball on the way out the door. The unfamiliar metal sphere lay heavy in her hand as she locked the door to her and Jack's shared room, slipped down the corridor and out the Pokemon Centre door into the watery morning light, her sights now firmly set on the figure of Viridian Forest just on the horizon.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**I am so sorry!**

**I have been a terrible person the past couple months, not updating and everything... I hope this story still has readers and everything... **

**Updates will now be forming some sort of regular pattern, so you'll be seeing a lot more of me until I retire :) **

**Well, I have to give MasterFreezeman, my wonderful boyfriend, some special thanks for putting up with my bitchiness and craziness through Skype while I was trying to write this damn thing. And for helping me pick Sebastian and Robert's teams, and for the logistics behind the Blue v Sebastian battle :) Thank you, love :) *hugs***

**Thanks to WildCroconaw, MasterFreezeman (again) and Shadow Serenity 57 for the reviews!**

**I'M SORRY IF THIS CHAPTER SUCKED!**

**OceanSpiral out! **

**Until next time (which should be hopefully soon)**


	9. Through the Looking Glass

**Chapter Nine  
>Through the Looking Glass<strong>

Even in the light of the early morning summer sun, working her way through Viridian Forest proved both incredibly difficult and very taxing for Ivy. She never had been the best navigator, and the terrain was difficult for her to cross safely. It was impossible to see more than a few feet in front of her, and the ground was wet and riddled with branches and other unseen potential traps. She progressed slowly, terrified of getting lost, or tripping and falling. She was painfully aware of the fact that before being ushered through by Sebastian and Robert, Ivy had never even set so much as a foot in the dark depths of the imposing and intimidating mass of trees that separated Viridian from her hometown of Pewter. This fact only served to make her even _more _frightened and worried, putting a strain on her already tightly stretched nerves…

Despite the light from the sun, the trees of Viridian Forest were so thick in density and interlocked so tightly overhead that it blocked out any natural light, casting everything in a perpetual darkness. She crept through the inky black surroundings, feeling less than at home as the shadows danced across her vision, looking like morbid images of untold horrors reaching out to grab her. She tried to keep her breathing steady and calm, so not as to work herself into a panic, but despite her best efforts, she also entertained a surprisingly powerful notion that her heavy breathing could alert the attention of any sinister Pokemon lurking in the shadows, thus making her an easy target…

After some five minutes of walking, she found what she was looking for. A clearing. Even better, the clearing mercifully had a source of light coming through a rare gap in the trees, allowing her a better view of her surroundings. Stopping briefly to catch her breath, she drew herself up to her full height and began surveying the clearing. The place was empty. Not a single person or Pokemon to be seen. She couldn't even hear anything. No noises of Pokemon, no rustling of leaves… While she had originally thought she would have preferred Viridian Forest to have been empty, now she wasn't so sure…

The emptiness soon began to get the better of her, and as her nerves began to threaten to overwhelm her completely, she decided to release the Weedle. She slipped her hand into the pocket of her jeans and fished out the heavy Pokeball. Swallowing deeply, she clumsily tossed it forward.

It opened so suddenly and with such a bright light that it made Ivy shriek in fright and instinctively back away. As the silhouette of a Weedle appeared against the backdrop of brilliant white light, Ivy's heart inexplicably sunk a little. It became horrifically clear to her as her Weedle yawned sleepily and looked around. She couldn't go on denying this any more. This was her Pokemon. _Her _Weedle. And although it wasn't a Pokemon on her list, although it wasn't a Pokemon she wanted, although it wasn't a Pokemon she even _liked_, this was still her Pokemon. And she guessed she had to make the best of a bad situation.

A few moments passed, Ivy and her Weedle simply staring each other out for a few seconds. Then Ivy took a cautious step forward. So too did the Weedle. Both human and Pokemon then proceeded to stare at each other in mild bemusement for a few seconds. Then, testing the water, Ivy took a small step backwards. Once again, the Weedle echoed her movements. At this, Ivy had to fight to not immediately freak out.

"Weedle?" the Pokemon asked in confusion, tilting its head.

Ivy blinked in the face of her Pokemon, but didn't move. She didn't trust herself to move. She was suddenly entertaining violent scenarios of the Weedle suddenly going mental and attacking her with the poisonous barbs she knew Weedle were renowned for. Her panic slowly began to rise as she stared at the Weedle, wholly expecting it to suddenly throw itself at her. And then, the Weedle suddenly took a step forward. Ivy panicked. She let out a squeal, jumped backwards, pivoted around, turning her back on the Weedle and sinking her head into her hands. "Okay! Okay!" she said out loud, amid shaky breaths. "I can do this, I can do this… Come on, Ivy, if _Lily-Mae _and _Michaela _can do this, so can you! You actually have a _brain _in your head! Now man up and get on with it! It's just a Weedle! You can handle a Weedle! It can't do you _that _much damage. Right…? It's just a Weedle… That's right. Just a—"

"Weedle?"

Ivy suddenly became painfully aware of a slight weight upon her left shoulder. Her whole body immediately froze and became rigid. She suddenly became aware of a tiny face now invading her peripheral vision. As it sunk in, she let out a scream that could have shattered glass, grabbed the Weedle with one hand and flung the poor Pokemon as far as she could. Luckily for the Weedle, Ivy never had been gifted with much physical strength, so the Weedle barely flew a few solitary feet, before hitting the ground safely and harmlessly. Thankfully, the Pokemon didn't seem too worse for the wear after its flight and simply returned Ivy a rather bemused look. "Weedle?" It said quizzically, before looking slightly sad.

"W-well, don't _do _that!" Ivy shrieked, flailing her arms up and down. "You can't just frighten the life out of me like that and then _not _expect me to freak out!"

"Weedle…" the Pokemon said sadly, hanging its head.

Despite herself, Ivy found the sight of the despondent Pokemon a bit hard to look at, and an inexplicable stab of guilt hit her. She swallowed, wrung her hands together and dared to approach the Weedle, crouching down on her knees. She found herself wanting to reach out and touch the little Pokemon, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it, and retracted her outstretched hand slowly. "S-sorry about that," she murmured.

"Weedle?" the Weedle perked up, tilting its head to look at the young woman.

"I didn't mean to throw you…" Ivy said sheepishly whilst idly tracing a pattern in the dusty ground. "I just panicked."

"Weedle… Weedle! Weedle!"

"I'm not too good with this Pokemon training stuff," Ivy murmured, staring at the ground. "I didn't want to have to do this, you know? But for some reason, Blue seems to think I _can _do this. So, I want to at least _try. _I have to, you know? I have to try and get all these Pokemon so I can pass this course. And as much as I don't like to admit it, you're the only one that can help me right now…"

"Weedle?"

The confused tone to the Weedle's voice made something inside Ivy fall on its side. She let out a long, exasperated sigh and whole-heartedly gave up. "Oh, who am I kidding?" she said, sitting heavily down on her backside, a wave of tiredness, both physical and mental, washing over her. "You probably don't even care. Heck, you probably can't even understand me…"

She collapsed her head onto her arms and let out another deep sigh. She stayed there in that position for quite some time, not moving and barely even registering the world going on around her, The darkness was somewhat soothing to her agitated spirit, and the only noises she was aware of were the rhythmic sound of her own breathing, the occasional rustle of leaves and the odd cry of a Pokemon, somewhere far away. Eventually, her eyes began to droop and her body fell limp and she lulled herself into a deep sleep.

Next thing she knew was the sound of a voice in her ear, loud, abrasive and accompanied by a vicious shake that seemed to rock the whole of her body, almost like she was in an earthquake zone. She jerked awake, blinked in the sudden harsh sunlight and glanced upwards. The first thing she noticed was the image of Jack's face pressed uncomfortably close to hers. As she blinked in confusion, she became aware of the figures of Sebastian and Robert towering above her at either side of her. And then finally, she became conscious of a warm presence in the crook of her arm. When she looked down in confusion she saw her little Weedle curled up, fast asleep, right there in her arms.

She didn't get a chance to take much of this in however, as Jack was suddenly talking., his voice thick with exasperation "Seriously, Ivy…? You have really got to stop doing this…"

"Doing what…?" she murmured sleepily.

"Oh, gee, I don't know!" Jack retorted. "Maybe disappearing in the middle of the night without telling us, running out to Arceus knows where on your own where _anything _could happen to you, and then to add insult to injury, _falling asleep _out here! Ivy, you fell asleep in the middle of Viridian Forest! You could have been _eaten _or something."

Despite herself, Ivy snorted with laughter.

"It's not funny!" Jack raged, and Ivy immediately shut up, realising her friend really was genuinely upset. "Ivy, this is the second time you've done this! You really need to start _thinking_!"

Ivy pushed herself up into a sitting position, trying not to disturb the sleeping Weedle. "Jack, I—"

"No, Ivy, seriously!" Jack interrupted. "You can't keep doing this! Come on, you're a smart girl! Underneath all that ditz, I know you have a brain in your head. So use it! Surely even you can't think that running off on your own into Viridian Forest in the middle of the night without telling anyone, with only a _Weedle _for protection is a good idea!"

Ivy felt tears prick at her eyes. Jack had always mocked Ivy for her dizziness and lack of common sense, always jokingly insulting her for what he deemed was her lack of intelligence, but this felt different. And it upset her.

"I'm sorry, I—"

"Sorry isn't going to help now!" Jack said, kneeling down to look her in the eyes. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? How worried Sebastian and Robert were?"

Unbeknownst to Jack and Ivy, Robert snorted loudly at the mention of his name. Sebastian immediately silenced his older cousin with a well aimed pebble flung at Robert's head.

"Why did you even do this?"

"I… I wanted to get out here and try some training…"

"And you couldn't have waited until the morning? Until Sebastian, Robert or I could come with you? You're basically out _looking _for trouble, Ivy!"

"I… I don't _need _you guys looking after me all the time!" Ivy protested weakly. "I'm not a child, you know…"

"Well maybe if you didn't _act _like one all the time, we wouldn't _treat _you like one!"

"Oh don't pull that primary school teacher crap with me!" Ivy suddenly snapped. "Jack, I'm nineteen years old! You're not my mother! You're my _friend_! You don't have control over me!" she let out a juddering sigh, before containing herself. "I just wanted to have a chance at trying out this Pokemon training thing without feeling like I was being judged!"

"Who's judging you?" Jack asked shrilly, his voice rising to such a high pitched tone it would ordinarily have made Ivy laugh had the circumstances not been so serious.

"I… I don't know!" Ivy said hysterically. "But it just _seems _that no matter what I do, it's never good enough! I know Robert thinks I'm hopeless at this! And Michaela too! And Sebastian is so good, how can I even compare to him? And _you, _too!"

"Me?"

"Yes! You! Jack, you've taken to Pokemon training so easily! It's like you've been doing it all your life! It's like you and everyone else in the world has this inbuilt manual that I don't have! Well, I want that! Where's my copy?"

"Ivy, don't be like that."

"Then how am I _meant _to be?" Ivy demanded. "You don't understand, Jack! Things are a lot harder for me than they are for you…"

"Harder for you…?" Jack said icily and immediately Ivy sensed she had crossed a line. "Why? Why would you say that? You _know _how hard I had things when I was younger. You _know _what I had to go through just because of _who _and _what _I am. You know that! So, why would you say that things are automatically _easier _for me? When you know they're really really not!"

"Jack, I'm sorry…" Ivy said softly, and she meant it. "This Pokemon training is just so difficult, that's all… I can't seem to _get _it…"

"Ivy, if you would stop _talking _and just begin _doing _then you'd get there a lot faster!"

Ivy lapsed into silence. While Jack simply stared her out, his own anger blinding him to the obvious danger signs right in front of him, Sebastian picked up on them and slowly sunk his head into his hands. He knew Jack had pushed Ivy too far. Even as he thought this, Ivy slowly pushed herself to her feet, clutching her Weedle, waking it up in the process, making it squeal slightly. She locked her eyes with Jack and let out a long, slow sigh.

"Then what do you say we start 'doing' right now?"

Jack blinked, flummoxed. "Huh?"

Kneeling down for a second to put her Weedle down in front of her, Ivy then straightened herself up, taking a firm stance. "A battle. You and I. Right now."

"Ivy, you cannot be serious…"

"I'm dead serious."

"You've never battled with that Weedle before! You don't know what you're doing!"

"Well, then, I guess I'll have to learn by doing, won't I?"

"Ivy, I'm not doing this," Jack said firmly, crossing his arms.

"Why not?" Ivy demanded of him. "You told me to start 'doing', so here I am. I'm doing it." She then paused. "What? Are you _scared _of battling me?"

"Certainly _not_!" Jack said primly.

"Then what's the problem, then?"

Jack let out a haughty sigh, realising Ivy had him caught between a proverbial rock and a hard place. He ran an impatient hand through his blonde hair, making it stand on end, and then gave in. "Fine. One battle."

Ivy nodded. "One battle."

Robert rolled his eyes as he stepped away to allow the two rookie trainers some room. This was going to prove embarrassing for everyone concerned, he privately felt. Sebastian on the other hand was worrying, wondering what would happen between the two friends in their first proper trainer battle…

"Phoenix, let's go!" Jack said, tossing his Pokeball down. The tiny Pidgey flapped sleepily out of the Pokeball and seemed initially a bit bemused at its surroundings and the Weedle standing only a mere few feet away.

"Come on, Weedle," Ivy said, turning to look at her Weedle. "Let's do this."

"Are you sure you still want to do this?" Jack asked slowly as the Weedle shuffled slowly into a better position.

"Yes." Ivy said with a nod. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life,"

"Even though you've got the type disadvantage?"

Ivy shrugged in an offhand manner. "What do type advantages matter? We're rookies, and our Pokemon are pretty weak… They're not going to affect this battle."

Jack was biting his lip by this stage, trying to bite down on the bubbling frustration flooding through his veins. "Well, if you're sure…"

"I'm certain,"

"All right then…" Jack said solemnly. "Then I guess I'll start. Phoenix, Sand Attack now!"

The battle began so quickly that it caught Ivy completely off-guard. Added to that, the use of Sand Attack wasn't the move Ivy had been anticipating. She immediately panicked as the Pidgey suddenly began kicking up great clouds of dust that swept towards the tiny Bug type. Flustered and without even thinking, she blurted out a command. "Weedle, Poison Sting!"

"Weedle!" The Pokemon complied all too eagerly, shooting out a barrage of thin stingers dripping with a potent poison. However, the Pokemon's aim was completely off, so blinded by the sand from Jack's Pidgey it was, and the stingers embedded themselves in a nearby tree, completely harmless.

"What a stupid move…" Robert said in exasperation from the sidelines.

"She just panicked," Sebastian looked at him reproachfully. "Give her a break."

"Panicking or not, that was a stupid move…" Robert then muttered traitorously.

"Just shut up and watch the battle, okay?"

"Why? I already know how it's going to end…"

Sebastian merely shook his head in exasperation at his older cousin before turning his attention back to the battle. Ivy's Weedle, still blinded, was helplessly struggling to see in the residue of the dust from Jack's Phoenix. Jack however was hesitating to order his Pidgey to attack, and Phoenix was merely floating above the dust cloud watching the proceedings.

Ivy however had no such hesitations. "Weedle, come on! Try another Poison Sting!"

This order met with the same result as before, the poison stingers travelling completely off target, almost piercing an innocent Caterpie slowly inching its way up a tree. As Ivy cursed, trying to encourage her Weedle into trying again, Jack still wasn't ordering his Pidgey to attack. While Ivy was too caught up in herself, this hadn't gone unnoticed by the Rhodes cousins standing at the sidelines…

"Why isn't he attacking…?" Robert muttered.

"I don't know…" Sebastian said slowly. "Maybe he just… can't bring himself to do it… He has the advantage, you know? He could easily take out Ivy's Weedle with one move if push came to shove…"

"Then he should just do it," Robert said with a casual shrug.

"It's not that easy. They're friends."

"They're _soft_,"

Robert and Sebastian continued their debate heatedly for a few more minutes, while Jack and Ivy focused on their battle. Very little was actually going on within the battle however. Ivy's Weedle still couldn't aim an attack correctly and Jack's Pidgey was still hovering above the battlefield, not moving. Now, Ivy couldn't fail to notice Jack's reluctance to attack and she was beginning to get harassed, with both Jack and her little Weedle.

"Jack! What the hell are you doing just standing there? I thought this was meant to be a _battle_!"

Jack said nothing in return.

"Jack! You big idiot, why aren't you taking this seriously? What, do you think I'm not good enough to be any kind of competition?"

"I didn't say that!" Jack barked.

"Then treat this like a _real _battle!"

Jack let out a frustrated growl. "What? You want this to be a real battle?"

"Yeah! I do!"

"Well, all right then!" Jack snapped. "Just don't say I didn't warn you. Come on, Phoenix, use Tackle! And give it everything you've got"

Phoenix dove into a powerful Tackle attack that completely took Ivy and her Weedle off-guard. The Pidgey slammed straight into Weedle, sending it flying backwards with a pained squeal. However, Ivy's Weedle righted itself almost immediately and while the Pidgey, still recovering from its dive flailed uselessly in the air trying to turn itself around, Ivy saw an opportunity. "Quickly, Weedle! Poison Sting!"

The attack was a direct hit. The pointed stingers embedded themselves straight in the plumage of Jack's Pidgey, making it cry out in pain. It staggered backwards, still squawking. It cries didn't stop even after the poison stingers fell uselessly to the ground. It began to teeter uncertainly on its feet, hardly able to stand.

Sebastian bit his lip. "Poisoned. This could change the whole outcome of the battle."

"She got lucky." Robert deadpanned.

Sebastian shot Robert another disapproving look, before turning back towards the battlefield. Jack's Pidgey was struggling to stand upright now, the effects of the Poison now evident on the Pokemon's tiny body. Ivy was looking shocked. After so many failed attempts, she was the most shocked out of anyone that her Pokemon had finally secured a hit. Even more amazing was the fact that Weedle had managed to poison the little Pidgey! Jack however looked horrified at the sight of his Pokemon in pain and his face was marred with worry as his Pokemon struggled to even _stand _let alone fly or attack.

"Phoenix? You okay?"

"Pidgey… Pidgey…" Phoenix cooed weakly.

"Come on, Weedle!" Ivy urged her Pokemon. "Try tying it up with a String Shot!"

Weedle complied, and within seconds, the weakened Pidgey was suddenly bound up in sticky white string, completely trapping it and hindering its movements. Its pained cries suddenly became panicked as it struggled against its binds.

"Phoenix!" Jack cried out in fear as his Pokemon's cries suddenly became weaker and weaker. "Are you okay?"

Seeing her opponent's Pokemon all tied up had rendered Ivy a little uncertain to her next move. "Do I finish it now?" she asked in confusion, turning to look at Sebastian and Robert.

"Isn't that the _point _of a Pokemon battle?" Robert asked, scathingly.

"Go ahead, if you want to." Sebastian said with a shrug.

"All right then…" Ivy murmured, looking down at her Weedle, who looked back up at her with confidence. "Weedle, finish it with a—"

"No!" Jack suddenly cried out, stepping out onto the battlefield. "Enough! I… I forfeit!"

Startled, Ivy looked dumbfounded at Jack's interruption. "You what…?"

"Forfeit, Ivy." Jack said matter-of-factly, before leaning down and scooping up his badly injured Pidgey into his arms. The Pokemon cooed softly as it became enveloped in its trainer's embrace. "I can't sit here and watch Phoenix be beaten like this. So I give up. You win." He then paused, stroking his now barely conscious Pidgey soothingly. "It was a good match…"

"Y-yeah," All the anger Ivy had previously felt at her best friend suddenly melted away to be replaced with a deep ingrained sadness and a horrible feeling of guilt. She couldn't be angry at him, not when she saw him looking so despondent at his Pokemon being in pain. She stepped forward and approached her friend slowly. As she drew in closer, she wondered what would be the best thing to say to offer him comfort and say she was sorry. But she found she could think of nothing to say. Instead, her arms seemed to take on a mind of their own, and before she knew what she was doing, she had reached out and was hugging him.

"Ivy… what are you doing?"

"Hugging you."

"_Why_?"

"I dunno. Cos it's what friends do?" she offered, letting out a deep sigh. "And cos I wanted to apologise…"

"Yes, but, I don't do hugging, remember? Unless it's a special occasion of course. Or when you _throw _yourself at me for no reason. And right I have no wish to have a girl who's slept outside all night, is probably all mucky and sweaty from lying on the ground practically rub herself all over me and—"

"Jack, for goodness sake, just accept the hug, you big idiot!"

Jack rolled his eyes, but shifted Phoenix to a more comfortable position in his arms, before embracing Ivy in what Sebastian felt was only a mildly awkward one-armed hug. As Ivy hugged her best friend, she whispered softly enough for only him to hear. "I really am sorry, you know?"

"I know," Jack said with a short smile. "I didn't mean to get so angry with you."

"It's okay." Ivy said with the tiniest of shrugs "I guess I kinda deserved it."

A smile tugged at Jack's lips. "Yeah, I guess you kinda did,"

This time, Ivy managed to giggle.

"Just don't do it again, okay?"

"I'll try not to, but I can't promise anything,"

Jack snorted. "You're worse than any number of five year old children I could ever have to put up with, you know?"

"I know. But that's why you love me."

"Hmm," Jack said in a teasing manner. "You just keep telling yourself that, dear. Whatever gets you through the night."

"Hey, come on." Ivy protested, aiming a weak punch at Jack's midsection. "At least I'm never boring."

"True, true…" Jack said, before smiling again. "Hey… you know what?"

"What…?" Ivy asked sceptically.

"I'm actually kinda proud of you, Ivy."

"Eh?" Ivy asked stupidly.

"I'll admit, I wasn't too optimistic about your battling skills," There was a broad grin on Jack's face now as he looked down at his friend. "But then you won. I'll admit it was probably a stroke of luck more than anything else, but you still won. And I was glad that you did win. I think you've had a bit of a breakthrough, my dear."

"Oh!" Ivy said, pleasantly surprised. "Thank you!"

While the two friends broke apart, exchanged a few more apologies and then began fussing over the injured Pidgey, Robert turned to Sebastian. "Was she even listening? She completely didn't even realise he said it was only by a 'stroke of luck' that she won. I don't care what he said about a breakthrough, she's _still _a complete ditz."

Sebastian shook his head, but managed to stop himself from saying anything.

As the two friends continued speaking in their odd little way and fussing over Jack's injured Pidgey, something occurred to Robert. It completely baffled him and he had little choice but to bring it up. "They have a very odd relationship, don't you think…?"

"Well, it's certainly… unique," Sebastian agreed.

"Hmm. It's certainly like nothing _I've _ever seen. Not a _normal _friendship anyway…" He then paused, looking quizzical. "Just out of interest, how would you define it?"

"I'm pretty sure I don't know." Sebastian said with a short chuckle. "I'm not even entirely sure it _can _be defined."

"It's strange…" Robert said haughtily, folding his arms. "It's like… they're _more _than friends… but less than lovers. Is that even possible?"

Sebastian looked at his cousin oddly. "You say the weirdest things, cousin, you know that?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to figure out the madness that's going on here. The madness that _you _got us into, after all." He jabbed an accusing finger in Sebastian's direction. He then let out a sigh before inclining his head and firmly pinching the bridge of his nose. "I think I'm the only sane one left around here…"

"Hey, most everyone's mad here," Sebastian said with a knowing smile.

Robert glared at his younger cousin. "Oh, shut up…"

"You're no fun," Sebastian shot back.

"Yeah, and you're a—"

They were suddenly distracted by Ivy shrieking and both cousins whipped their heads up to see Ivy gesturing madly at her Weedle, screaming something incoherently. As they watched, the Weedle suddenly became surrounded by a glowing white light…

"No." Robert said in disbelief.

Ivy's Weedle was evolving.

Within seconds, the tiny form of Weedle had begun to morph and change, growing taller and wider, eventually solidifying into the unmistakable figure of a Kakuna. No sooner had the light faded, Ivy began jumping up and down in excitement, shrieking at the top of her lungs again, before scooping up the Kakuna and smothering it in a massive hug.

"Well, that was unexpected…" Sebastian said, amused.

"What? The evolution or her reaction?" Robert asked, wrinkling his nose.

"A little of both,"

"Hmm." Robert said, now raising his eyebrows as Ivy began squeezing her new Kakuna uncomfortably tight. "I think she may be hurting it…"

"Aaaah!" Sebastian panicked, seeing Ivy's new Kakuna begin to wriggle in her arms, looking like it was now struggling to even breathe. "Uhh, Ivy!" he cried, breaking into a sprint towards the excitable young woman. "You might want to stop doing that!"

Robert shook his head as his cousin now attempted to intercept the over-enthusiastic girl and wrench the newly evolved, and rather vulnerable, Kakuna from her vice-like grip. "Honestly…" he muttered. "Am I really the only sane one here?"

His cousin's words returned to him. "Most everyone's mad here," he repeated out loud. "Never a truer word spoken, I guess…" he mused to himself, feeling very ironically like Alice as she stepped through the proverbial looking glass into a world of complete and utter surrealism. Sometimes when it came to his cousin and the people his cousin knew, he felt like he had slipped into a parallel universe or ended up on a different planet. Forever doomed to be an idle observer in a world too mad for him…

And as he walked back towards the Pokemon centre, the excited cries and protests of his cousin and the two others rose out into the early morning horizon, making him sigh in exhaustion and his eye twitch in mild irritation. He reflected over the events of the day. Ivy had gone missing again. Ivy and Jack had an argument. Ivy and Jack had then had a Pokemon battle. Ivy had, unbelievably, _won _said Pokemon battle. Ivy's Weedle had then _evolved_, just like that and everything went back to being hunky-dory between everyone, despite the earlier mad shouting match between the two friends. As he thought about this, he once again pondered the strange relationship between Jack and Ivy, a sort of strange and unique friendship he still couldn't define. He found himself yawning from tiredness, and it was with suddenness he realised that it was barely even eight in the morning. He sighed. All this stupidity and weirdness already and it was only eight in the morning.

"Madness." Robert said again with a firm shake of his head. "Just madness."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Hi guys :) Another chapter for you. I had fun writing this one. **

**Good news! I've officially planned out the whole fic so I know exactly what's happening, so the updates should be getting written and released as often as I can. **

**Another wee thing; check out the awesome story 'The Evolution of Finn' by my very good friend Nayfan_Dickson if you can. It's a great story, very unique and he's an awesome guy so READ IT! Thank you :D**

**Oh! To my forum members and wonderful boyfriend MasterFreezeman, I hope you appreciated the little inside joke I inserted here. **

**Thanks to my reviewers ShadowSerenity57, MasterFreezeman, Red421860, YoungDarkPegasus and The Neverending Meep. Thanks you guys, I'm really glad you keep reading and reviewing, it means a lot. **

**OceanSpiral out! Until next time! **


	10. Attack of the Pidgey Mafia!

**Chapter Ten  
><strong>**Attack of the Pidgey Mafia!**

It was approaching 9AM by the time the Rhodes cousins, Jack and Ivy made it back to the Pokemon centre, a full hour and a half after they had agreed to meet Michaela for breakfast. As Ivy had predicted, her younger sister was _not _impressed by the time the four of them eventually sidled into the breakfast room. She was sitting there, a bowl of half-eaten soggy cereal in front of her, a thunderous look on her face, and arms and legs firmly crossed. The sheer _picture _of unimpressed. No sooner had Jack laid eyes on Ivy's fuming younger sister, he quickly came to the decision that he simply wanted to do an about turn and avoid the hotheaded girl _completely._

Of course, there was no chance of that.

Not even caring that there were still a few Pokemon trainers still milling around the breakfast room and that her temper was in full view of them, Michaela exploded as soon as the four people entered. "And where the hell have _you _been all morning?" She demanded angrily. "I've been sitting here on my own like an idiot for—"

"Michaela! Weedle evolved!" Ivy cried out enthusiastically, practically diving into the seat opposite her younger sister.

Michaela's eye twitched. "What…?" she said in a noticeably strained voice.

"Weedle evolved! To Kakuna!" she beamed, holding out Kakuna's Pokeball.

Michaela was fighting to keep her temper in check. "Wonderful." She stated bluntly. "Simply wonderful."

The sarcasm had been heaped on with a shovel, anyone could tell that, but Ivy was simply too excited to register that fact and wittered on blithely, a huge beaming smile stretched over her face. "I know, right? I honestly didn't expect him to evolve so soon! But he won against Jack's Pidgey and he evolved! Isn't that great?"

While Michaela once again fought the urge to strangle her ditzy, motor-mouthed older sister, Robert glanced at Sebastian. "Okay, this is the same girl that not a few days ago never wanted to even so much as _look _at a Pokemon, right?" he muttered. "What happened? All of a sudden she's had a complete change of heart! Now she practically _loves _that Kakuna."

Sebastian nodded slowly with a rather befuddled expression. "Yeah… this _is _the same girl."

"Okay, it's official." Robert said with a haughty sigh, hitting the table with his fist for emphasis. "I've slipped into a parallel universe. This makes no sense…"

"Believe me, I don't get it either," Jack, who had opted to listen in to the cousins' conversation rather than eavesdrop on the two sisters, suddenly intercepted. "But I learned a long time with Ivy to just shut up, accept the craziness and go with the flow."

"Madness," Robert imparted before grabbing a bowl of cereal, sitting down heavily and spooning it up impatiently. He then glared at Sebastian for good measure. "You know how much I hate you for getting us involved in this, don't you?"

"Hey, it's not like we have anything _else _to do," Sebastian said with a shrug, also taking a seat. "Get over yourself."

Robert grunted angrily and began eating with furious vigour. Jack and Sebastian glanced at each other, shrugged and began buttering toast.

Breakfast thankfully passed quietly and quickly. After eating and a rather heated discussion in the Pokemon Centre lobby, it was eventually decided that the wisest move would be for Ivy to continue looking for the Pokemon on her list. After consulting a local guide, borrowed from a helpful Nurse Joy, and asking a Bug Pokemon expert, the debate between Sebastian and Robert was finally brought to an end as they discovered that you could not find Venonat in Viridian Forest any longer. Yes, there had been an influx of Venonat in Viridian Forest many years ago, but the swarm had long since moved on. The initial disappointment wore off fairly quickly however as there would be plenty opportunities to find a Pidgey, which after some training would give Ivy the Pidgeotto she had been tasked to find. So, after resting and amusing themselves until just about midday the party, minus Michaela, whom had decided to stay in Viridian City itself on the hunt for trainers to battle, and Robert, who simply couldn't be bothered, found themselves once again in Viridian Forest.

Ivy released Kakuna no sooner had they entered the forest and the Bug Pokemon seemed quiet happy to be back in the familiar dark, rather dank surroundings of the forest. The newly evolved Kakuna however didn't seem to be accustomed to the fact it no longer had feet and spent some time trying to figure out how to move. It didn't meet with much success. Ivy seemed to find the fact that Kakuna couldn't move under its own power 'quite cute, actually' and opted to carry the Pokemon herself.

Sebastian shook his head, almost fondly, at the young woman excitedly ferrying her Pokemon around. "It seems you've gotten quite attached to that Kakuna, Ivy."

"Yeah," she said with a sheepish smile.

"What brought on this change of heart, all of a sudden?"

Ivy shrugged slightly. "I don't know exactly… All I know is that I actually felt quite… _proud _of Kakuna when he beat Jack's Pidgey. And then… I felt kinda… proud of _myself _too." She looked down at her Kakuna, not meeting Sebastian's eye. "That's a big thing for me. I haven't been able to feel proud of myself for a very long time… It kinda made me feel that… well, maybe I _could _do this. I guess I finally just grew up a little and accepted what's going on."

"I see," Sebastian said, before reaching out and touching Ivy gently on the shoulder. "Well, don't worry. You have a lot to be proud of, Ivy."

Ivy looked up at Sebastian, her hazel eyes wide. "You think so?"

"I know so." He replied, nodding. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, okay? Now come on. Aren't you meant to be looking for Pidgey."

"Oh yeah!" Ivy said brightly. "I'll go look."

"Kakuna okay to battle?"

"Yep!"

"Got your Pokeballs?"

"Yep!" Ivy flashed a few Pokeballs in Sebastian's direction.

"Looks like you're set then." Sebastian smiled.

"Yep! So I'm gonna go look now! Bye!" Ivy trilled, before enthusiastically taking off in any random direction into the undergrowth.

Sebastian watched her go, shaking his head slightly. Jack, who had been watching the whole proceedings, grinned and once again sidled up to Sebastian. "She's like a different person, isn't she?"

"Yeah…" Sebastian nodded. "I did always wonder why you seemed to almost… baby her in a sense, but now I can see why. She really is just like a little kid."

"She is, isn't she?" Jack said with another smile, while tickling Phoenix who had now perched on his shoulder, cooing softly. "Well, when she's not being whiny, ditzy or just a general pain in the arse, she's very cheery and happy. Annoyingly so, at times. Like a little kid. It must be nice to see the world like she does…"

Sebastian said nothing, simply stood there while what Jack said washed over him. He swept his eyes over the clearing of Viridian Forest as he heard Ivy squealing and giggling somewhere in the distance. It felt kind of nice, he thought, to hear someone laugh with such genuine happiness. It had been a long time since he had laughed with any genuine mirth…

Jack was calling Sebastian's name, but the young man was so lost in thought that a bomb could have gone off behind him and he wouldn't have noticed. Deducing that Sebastian was just zoning out, something Jack was entirely used to dealing with, having Ivy as a best friend after all, Jack cleared his throat and excused himself, wanting to go and train. Luckily Viridian Forest, despite the time of day, was empty of trainers, so Jack felt confident enough to go exploring on his own. Sebastian barely even acknowledged him as he left, and it was only after a good five minutes of just standing there that he actually realised Jack had left.

Meanwhile, Ivy and her Kakuna continued searching through the undergrowth, Ivy's sights firmly set on the Pidgey that was required for her course. Her heart was thudding with anticipation and she felt jittery as she swept her eyes from left to right looking for any sign of life. But all she kept finding was the occasional Caterpie inching its way up a tree. Her nerves weren't exactly helped by the fact that as she walked, her Kakuna was barely even moved in her arms. Ivy wasn't even sure the Pokemon was _blinking_. In fact, she became that concerned for her Pokemon's well-being that she actually had to stop to see if the Pokemon was still _alive. _

Finally satisfied her Pokemon was breathing and alive and well, she let out a sigh of relief and shifted the Kakuna to a more comfortable position. The Pokemon was actually quite heavy and carrying it was slowly tiring her out. She stopped to rest, but no sooner had she stopped, a familiar cooing noise suddenly sounded overhead. She glanced up to see a flock of Pidgey on a branch only a few feet away from her. There were so many Pidgey crammed onto the branch that it was buckling, looking like it was in danger of snapping at any moment.

"Wow… look at all those Pidgey, Kakuna!" Ivy said, holding up her Kakuna so it could see the flock of Pidgey. "Think we can take one of them out?"

Kakuna said nothing.

"That's… the spirit…" Ivy said limply, before putting her Kakuna down. As she looked up at the Pidgey above, she felt a little bit nervous. She'd only ever battled with her Pokemon once, and she'd never even so much as _attempted _to catch a Pokemon before now. But there was no sense in worrying; she tried to reason with herself. Trying to feel brave, she bit back her fear and pointed up at the Pidgey. "Kakuna, try a Poison Sting!"

A reproachful look spread across the Kakuna's face, but he obeyed his trainer's command and shot a barrage of poisonous darts at the Pidgey flock. The Pokemon began screeching and panicking as the poisonous barbs made contact with a few from the flock. Then, with a flurry of feathers, the Pidgey squawked in panic and indignation and took flight.

The Pidgey's attempts at escape failed miserably. The Pokemon were panicked and couldn't co-ordinate their flights. They ended up slamming into each other, causing even more panic among the giant flock. A symphony of frightened cawing echoed around the clearing as the flock just simply couldn't fly away. Ivy saw the opportunity and quickly shouted to her Kakuna.

"Kakuna, try another Poison Sting!"

Kakuna's Poison Sting attack was right on the mark this time and it fanned out, injuring quite a few of the Pidgey stragglers. But this time, the Pidgey seemed to notice exactly where their attacker was coming from…

And they divebombed.

Ivy screamed as soon as the Pidgey started their rapid descent, and her screams only intensified as sharp claws and beaks began raining down on her and Kakuna. Kakuna was shooting String Shots and Poison Stings for all it was worth, but it was barely even a deterrent to the attacking Pidgey, let alone had any chance of _stopping _them. Thankfully for Ivy, her screams attracted the attention of a certain wannabe knight in shining armour…

"Venomoth, Sleep Powder!"

A thick cloud of fine particles descended immediately above the Pidgey as the graceful figure of a Venomoth suddenly sailed overhead. Immediately realising what was going on, Ivy clamped her hand over her nose and mouth and dived safely out of the way of the falling Sleep Powder. Her Kakuna however was not so lucky and fell asleep right alongside the nine or so Pidgey that had been attacking her.

No sooner had the Pidgey safely fallen asleep and the danger had passed, Sebastian called Venomoth to his side and approached Ivy, who was trembling slightly. "Ivy…" he ventured. "You really shouldn't take on whole groups of Pokemon by yourself. Next time you might not have someone like me to step in and rescue you,"

Venomoth trilled in agreement, while Ivy blushed at the use of the word "rescue".

"I know that now…" she said, sheepishly.

"Well, keep it filed away for future reference." Sebastian told her gently, but firmly. "I know Jack would never forgive me if anything bad happened to you."

"Jack babies me too much," Ivy said huffily.

"From what I can see, he has good reason sometimes," he said with a smile.

"Hmph," Ivy huffed. "Don't _you _start, okay?"

"I'm not starting anything," he said, spreading his hands in mock innocence.

He was smiling broadly the whole time though, and this couldn't fail to make Ivy smile too. She was staring at the young man, almost transfixed, admiring the way his brown eyes took on an almost mischievous quality as they peeked out from behind strands of long brilliant red hair. His pale skill and full lips were suddenly very obvious to her, and it was with suddenness that Ivy realised she regarded this young man very handsome…

While Ivy stood there, wondering what on earth had made her think something like that, Sebastian then slowly turned to look at the flock of slumbering Pidgey.

"Hey, Ivy."

"Huh?"

"You've got a perfect opportunity to capture a Pidgey here, you know?"

"Oh!" Ivy said in shock. That thought hadn't even _occurred _to her until just now. "Um… But is it really okay for me to capture one? I mean… _I_ didn't exactly weaken them in any way. You did. Is that fair? I mean, I already only got Kakuna because you guys helped me out."

"It's fine, Ivy." Sebastian said with a smile. "This is important. This is a Pokemon on your list, so I don't think you should be sweating the fine details. Besides… as much as I know you've got a soft spot for your Kakuna, taking on a flight of Pidgey with a Bug type was never going to end well."

"Okay…" Ivy said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a minimised Pokeball. "Well, if you're _sure _it's okay."

"It's definitely okay."

That was all the encouragement Ivy needed. She nodded and began approaching the slumbering Pidgey warily. There were so many of them, eight, nine, maybe even ten of them at least. She didn't know which one to pick and turned a helpless face back to Sebastian, who chuckled and stepped out next to her, pulling out a small device Ivy instantly recognised as a Pokedex. He flipped it open, activated the device, pointed it at a random Pidgey, and after it beeped a few times, consulted it again. He then repeated this process with another Pidgey. And then another. Ivy watched this process, fascinated.

"Sebastian, what are you doing?"

"Using the Pokemon Analyser on the Pokedex," Sebastian flashed the screen at Ivy, but all she caught sight of were strings of numbers, none of which made sense to her. "I'm scanning all of these Pidgey to find the strongest one. No sense in making things more difficult for you."

"Oh!" Ivy said, impressed. "That's really handy!"

"I know, right?" Sebastian smiled; still busy scanning the sleeping Pokemon. "I don't use my Pokedex all that often, unless it's to identify a Pokemon I don't know or analyse the Pokemon I want to capture."

Ivy nodded. She then shut up as Sebastian began muttering under his breath as he continued his scanning. She busied herself by trying to reach across to grab her Kakuna, but she suddenly became frightened of wakening the Pidgey. She didn't want them taking off before she had a chance to catch one. As she thought this, she had to fight to contain an inexplicable burst of excitement as it finally sunk in what was going on. She was getting a Pidgey! A Pokemon that would evolve into one of the Pokemon on her list! She'd been on her journey for just about a week and she already had one Pokemon on her list.

"Alright," Sebastian said, finally lowering his Pokedex. "That Pidgey there seems the best one for you," he explained, pointing at the Pidgey lying at the extreme left of the group. "Female, already knows Gust."

"Gust?" Ivy asked slowly.

"Yep. Pretty rare to find one out here that already knows Gust."

"That's good, right?"

"Ivy, _Jack's _Pidgey doesn't even know Gust."

Ivy blinked slowly, and then a beaming triumphant smile burst over her face. "Okay, I'm catching that one! Jack will be _so _jealous!"

Sebastian laughed. "Trying to outdo him?"

"Hey, he outdoes _me _in everything else!"

Sebastian smiled again. "Well, if you're going to catch that Pidgey, better do it fast before they wake up again."

"Oh!" Ivy cried. "Yeah, you're right!" she said, before singling out the correct Pidgey. "That one, right?"

"That's the one,"

"Alright." Ivy said nervously. "Here I go…"

She tossed the Pokeball almost clumsily and after a momentary panic thinking she had completely missed her target; the Pokeball bounced off the Pidgey and sucked the Pokemon inside. Ivy couldn't help but hold her breath as the Pokeball shook and shifted a few times. She knew it wasn't likely a sleeping Pokemon could escape from a Pokeball, but she still, as she always did, worried.

Then suddenly it stilled.

Ivy stared at the ball in disbelief. Sebastian chuckled to himself as the girl remained firmly rooted to the spot, looking stunned at the fact the Pokeball had actually stilled. He shook his head, reached down and scooped up the Pokeball before handing it to the bewildered girl.

"Here's your Pidgey."

"M…my Pidgey…?" Ivy repeated in shock.

"Yes. Your Pidgey,"

Ivy opened her mouth to reply, but all that came out was an incoherent babble. Then suddenly, she was off, talking at a million miles an hour. Sebastian blinked as the motormouthed girl began talking so fast he couldn't even _hope _to make any coherent sense of what she was saying. But before he could get a chance to intercept and slow the excited girl down, he noticed movement over her shoulder. The Pidgey had begun to stir. His eyes widened as the Pidgey roused. They looked _angry_.

"Uh…" he said slowly. "Ivy, you better grab Kakuna."

"Huh?" Ivy stopped mid-sentence and looked up at Sebastian with the air of a confused puppy.

"Grab Kakuna."

"What? Why?"

"Cos those Pidgey are probably going to attack us…"

"Eh?" Ivy asked shrilly, glancing at the Pidgey who were now completely awake and glaring at the two trainers. Without even hesitating, she reached out and grabbed Kakuna, holding the, still sleeping, Pokemon close to her body protectively. "Can't you use Venomoth again? Put them back to sleep?"

Sebastian glanced at Venomoth. "Venomoth, go use—"

He didn't even get the chance to finish its order. The Pidgey, recognising its two assailants suddenly lifted into the air, heading straight for the two trainers and the Pokemon! Both Ivy and Sebastian cried out. Ivy's were screams of pure, unmitigated fear, while Sebastian just let out a shout of surprise. Ivy wasted no time in turning on her heel and sprinting as fast as she could in the direction of the clearing, but the Pidgey were on her heels within seconds. Sebastian initially hesitated, not wanting to come across as what his cousin would so charmingly call a 'wuss' in the face of such weak, under-levelled Pokemon, but he quickly changed his mind when a sharp beak suddenly came into painful contact with his face. He shrieked, totally forgetting about his Venomoth at his side and sprinted off after Ivy.

Ivy dashed into the clearing, the Pidgey still flapping manically behind her. Her weak stamina was failing her and she was already exhausted. She caught her foot on something and ended up falling forward straight onto her hands and knees. The Pidgey sailed straight overhead into the trees and Ivy whipped her head up just in time to see them fly safely above her. She heard a frightened shout from behind her, and turned around just in time to see Sebastian emerge, flapping helplessly at two or three Pidgey pecking viciously at him. The sight was so funny that Ivy couldn't help but roar with laughter.

Eventually Sebastian's Venomoth managed to chase the Pidgey off, and Sebastian made his way haughtily up to a still giggling Ivy. "What are you laughing at?" he tried to ask sternly, but he snorted with laughter halfway through.

"Oh nothing," Ivy said, struggling to conceal her laughter.

Sebastian shook his head. "And I thought Pidgey were meant to be docile little things. Those things were more like Spearow! Or Murkrow!"

"Mafia Pidgey!" Ivy said, before lapsing into giggles again.

"Well the one you caught was the strongest one, so I think you've got the Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey!"

Ivy, by this point, had gone beyond giggling and was now honking like a goose with no hope of recovery. Sebastian snorted again and began laughing, his laugh surprisingly loud and powerful. Ivy was laughing so much tears were rolling down her face and she was clutching her poor Kakuna so hard the Pokemon had its eyes squeezed shut and was whimpering softly. Ivy's Pokeball containing her newly caught Pidgey lay forgotten about as the two trainers roared with laughter.

Their laughter had finally caught the attention of Jack who stumbled back into the clearing from a particularly leafy area; his Pidgey perched comically on his head, flapping its tiny wings enthusiastically. He stopped in surprise as he saw the two trainers on the ground laughing.

"What on earth…?"

"Jack!" Ivy cried between hysterics. "I caught a Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey!"

Jack's eyebrows furrowed together. "You caught… _what_?"

"A Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey."

Jack stood there for a few moments letting what Ivy had just said sink in. He looked at Sebastian who was still laughing and obviously could offer no help in the matter. "Nope." He said. "I still don't get it,"

"Oh, never mind," Ivy said, still giggling. "I caught a Pidgey, Jack, look!" she let go of Kakuna, the Pokemon letting out a huge sigh of relief, and held up the Pokeball to show him.

"And we got attacked by the rest of the Pidgey Mafia in the process," Sebastian pitched in.

"Pidgey Mafia?" Jack questioned the two trainers, who were still red-faced and teary eyed from the excitement "You know what? I don't want to know. You're both crazy," he deadpanned, before investigating the Pokeball Ivy was offering him. "Caught a Pidgey, huh?"

"Yeah. And Sebastian says it's a higher level than yours."

Jack frowned. "What?"

"Yeah," Ivy said, taking the Pokeball back. "It already knows Gust. Phoenix doesn't, does he?"

"Pidgey-Pidgey!" Phoenix trilled, almost indignantly from atop Jack's head.

"No…" Jack said, almost in an embarrassed tone. "He doesn't. But he'll learn!"

"My Pidgey's stronger than yours!" Ivy said in a sing-song voice.

"Shu-shut up!" Jack said, looking a bit astonished.

Ivy grinned. "Oh come on, Jack, be happy for me! I've finally got one of the Pokemon I needed for my list!"

"I'd be happier if you didn't _insult _Phoenix like that,"

"I didn't insult him!"

"Yes, you did."

Ivy recoiled, looking a little hurt. "Well that makes a change from you always insulting _me_."

"Okay!" Sebastian said, smoothly stepping in between the two friends. "Maybe you two shouldn't be arguing over this."

"Hmph…" Ivy huffed, before glaring at Jack. "I think Jack's still sore over me beating him earlier."

"Oh please." Jack scoffed. "You only won because you got lucky. Kakuna poisoned Phoenix. That's the only reason you won."

"Ooh, someone's been taking their bitchy pills today!" Ivy spat. "Get a grip, Jack."

"The only way _I'd _ever get bitchy pills is if I stole them from you!"

"You take that back! Just admit, you're jealous because my Pidgey is stronger _and _I beat you in a battle!"

Sebastian shook his head slowly, instantly knowing what was going to happen next. "3…2…1…"

"Okay, you know how we're gonna settle this? My Phoenix against your Pidgey. Deal?"

"Deal!" Ivy said, seizing her Pokeball and throwing it so furiously it would probably have hit Jack did he not side-step neatly.

However, the newest addition to Ivy's team emerged from the Pokeball still fast asleep. Jack took one look at the Pidgey and promptly burst out laughing. Even Ivy's attempts to prod the slumbering Pokemon awake met with no success as it merely turned over and continued snoring loudly. Even Sebastian was now fighting to keep a smile off his face as Ivy badgered, begged and pleaded the Pokemon to wake up, only for it to remain stubbornly asleep.

"O…okay!" Ivy huffed, giving up and recalling the Pokemon. "So she's not quite fit to battle just yet… I _did _just catch her after all…"

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay! So I owe you a battle…"

"Looks like you do," Jack said triumphantly, tickling Phoenix under the chin. "And I'm going to win."

"Okay…" Sebastian intercepted again before Ivy could bite back. "Since this trip has been… a success… I _think…_ what do you say we go back to the Pokemon Centre?"

Ivy nodded, and picked up Kakuna. "Good idea."

"Yeah…"

"And you two should really stop arguing," Sebastian chastised them lightly as the three of them began walking. "It's not good for you,"

"We _do _always argue…" Ivy said sheepishly, casting a glance at Jack. Their feud had already been forgotten and things were back to normal, as they always were. "It's kinda a weird way of showing affection."

"'Weird' is right," Sebastian said with a good-natured chuckle. "You two squabble like an old married couple."

Ivy blushed, but Jack rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, you're not the first person to think that."

"Really…?" he inquire, his interest piqued. He had a question to ask that had been bothering him for quite some time, and decided now was as good a time as any to ask. "So you two… you dated?" he ventured delicately.

"God no!" Jack said at once, while Ivy immediately had a coughing fit.

His question was now undoubtedly answered, and sensing there was a line he was on the verge of crossing, Sebastian quickly changed the subject. "Well, Ivy, at least we've got you a Pidgey now."

"Yeah," She said brightly. "Get stuck into some training, I'll have a Pidgeotto before I know it."

Sebastian nodded. "So, assuming we can get Pidgey levelled up enough to evolve, that's one of your six Pokemon already. What one are you thinking of going after next?"

"I don't know…" Ivy said slowly. "Whatever's closest."

"You have to get Venonat, Nidorina or Nidorino, Cubone, Shellder and Vulpix right?"

Ivy nodded.

"Well I think the best bet is to go for a Nidoran." Sebastian explained, ducking his head with practised ease as Phoenix suddenly took flight after seeing a Caterpie crawling up a nearby tree. "You can get them around Route 22."

"And where's that?"

"Not far from here, actually." Sebastian said. "Just go west from Viridian City and you're there. We can catch Nidoran there."

"Awesome!" Ivy cheered. "We should totally go there looking for Nidoran,"

"Slow down," Sebastian told her with a good-natured smile. "With just a Kakuna and a Pidgey, you're not likely to be able to capture a Nidoran. You need to train them up. Maybe once Kakuna becomes a Beedrill you might stand a chance."

Jack stuck his tongue out cheekily at Ivy as her face dropped.

"I saw that," Sebastian said with a knowing smile. "Don't think you're getting off free, Jack. You're probably going to need to train Phoenix up a lot more too. It doesn't even know Gust yet. Even with your type advantage, it probably could be knocked out by a halfway solid Bug type."

This time it was Ivy's turn to stick her tongue out at a dejected Jack.

"So, basically just train?" Jack asked, whistling for Phoenix to come down.

"That's all you can do," Sebastian said with an airy shrug. "But not against wild Pokemon. And probably not against each other," he added quickly as both friends suddenly shot each other looks. "Other trainers."

"Oh! Like Michaela?"

"I think Michaela is a little out of your skill range for now," Sebastian said, ignoring the exasperated groans coming from Ivy's direction. "You're probably better asking around Viridian's Pokemon centre. Beginner trainers."

"Great… 'beginner trainers'… that sounds so… demeaning…" Ivy groaned.

"Everyone starts somewhere,"

Ivy muttered something in response, but didn't pursue the matter. They were back in Viridian City now, walking towards the Pokemon Centre. It didn't take them long to return to the Pokemon Centre, get their Pokemon healed and collapse into a comfortable seat. Ivy weighed her two Pokeballs up, completely unable to believe she now held in her hands two Pokemon of her very own. Jack was watching her with mild amusement, tossing Phoenix's Pokeball up and down idly. Sebastian was nowhere to be seen, having said he was going to his room to do something and hadn't returned in almost fifteen minutes.

A moment later, two trainers had sat down opposite them. Two giggly young girls, about fifteen, evidently beginner trainers, much like Jack and Ivy, and only with two Pokeballs apiece swinging from their belts. Ivy looked at Jack and smiled.

Jack leaned across to the two young girls and smiled. "Excuse me, but would you two ladies care for a battle?"

And with a resounding nod from both the young trainers, Jack and Ivy had somehow managed to secure themselves their first proper trainer double battle.

But Ivy wasn't exactly feeling optimistic about it…

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**This is a quick update cos I'm using the internet at my mum's work and she's rushing me to go home. **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! I hope things are interesting enough... I do promise they'll pick up soon though :D**

**Thanks to my reviewers MasterFreezeman, TristeWilds and The Neverending Meep.**

**Until next time! Please read and review!**

**OceanSpiral out!**


	11. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Chapter Eleven  
><strong>**Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

"A double battle, Jack," Ivy hissed nervously to Jack as their opponents readied themselves. "Of all the things we could have done, of all the trainers we could have battled… _why _a double battle? We could've taken a trainer each you know? That could've worked! Why on earth did you set up a double battle?"

"Killing two Pidgey with one Geodude?" Jack said with a shrug.

If pushed, Jack would have attributed his decision to take a double battle as purely selfish fascination on his part. The entire concept of a double battle privately fascinated him, and he admired the different skills and strategies the trainers had to develop and utilise to win. It was something he'd always loved watching, far more so than 'ordinary' battles and wanted to experience for himself. And of course, given the opportunity, he had eagerly dived in, feet-first. He didn't feel like explaining this to Ivy, however, who was still displaying a face of thunder at the whole idea.

She was still protesting Jacks' decision, but she was nothing more than an irritating buzz in his ear now. Even though she realised Jack was barely listening to her, she kept going in the vague hope he would reconsider. "Jack, we're not exactly experienced! We haven't even fought a proper one-on-one battle with someone _other _than each other! So don't you think we should start small? Or at the very least… not _them_?"

"They don't get much smaller than this, unfortunately," Jack was rolling Phoenix's Pokeball idly around in his palm. "They're inexperienced. On the same level as us. And there are two of them, same as there's two of us. It's equally balanced. We're just going to have to deal with it."

Ivy grumbled angrily to herself as the two fifteen year old trainers turned to look at them.

As much as she hated to admit it, she knew better than to try and argue her case any longer. Jack had made up his mind and he wasn't going to give in. He was just as stubborn as she was, after all. Aside from Jack's stubbornness to give in, Ivy knew there was another reason they couldn't exactly back out now. They had entered a mutual contract. Once battle had been accepted by both parties, it had to be fulfilled on penalty of a forfeit and the loss of half their money. And Ivy certainly did _not _want to lose half of her money. As she lamented all this and wondered how she had ever found herself in this situation in the first place, the first trainer, a short, plump red-head in ripped jeans and loose fitting shirt took a step forward. She was looking down a long, turned up nose at the two university students.

"We all use one Pokemon each, right?" the girl asked.

Jack nodded in the affirmative when Ivy glared at him accusingly, as if to say "you got us into this mess, _you _deal with it."

The other girl, this one taller, skinnier, and with raven black hair cropped into a short bob also stepped up. She looked noticeably more nervous, glancing at her friend a little warily before speaking. "Uh, shouldn't we get your names first?"

"Of course," Jack said smoothly. "I'm Jack. That's Ivy," he added, motioning towards Ivy.

"'That'?" Ivy repeated, insulted. "What the hell do you mean by 'that'?"

"Ivy, shut up and don't start!" Jack hissed lowly, through gritted teeth.

The two girls looked a bit perplexed as the heated exchange sparked between Jack and Ivy, but did a very good job of ignoring it until Jack eventually contained it and pacified Ivy. Once the situation was prevented from escalating, the girls finally gave their names, the black haired girl pleasantly introducing herself as Penny, the red-head bluntly stating her name as Alyson.

With pleasantries now out the way, the four trainers faced off against each other. There was nervousness inside each battler, whether they wanted to admit or not. Alyson, the red-headed trainer was the best at concealing it, releasing a Spearow with an air of confidence, whilst a trembling Penny sent out a rather dopey looking Metapod. Jack and Ivy exchanged looks before Jack sent out Phoenix. Ivy initially dithered, wondering which of her Kakuna and Pidgey would be best to send out for the battle. Both Pokemon had pros and cons, she reasoned. Kakuna had the advantage of having battled competitively before, but she wasn't quite sure what, if any, damage it could do against a Metapod, and she knew a Kakuna stood next to no chance against a Flying type like Spearow. But she was nervous about using her Pidgey, having only just caught it, not even getting to know it yet and having never used it in a battle before.

In the end, the knowledge that her Kakuna simply wouldn't be able to stand up against the Spearow or do much damage to a Metapod won her over and she too sent out her Pidgey. The Pidgey was unusually aggressive as it emerged, flapping its wings aiming a vicious peck at Phoenix as the inquisitive male Pidgey got too close to it.

"Wow," Jack remarked to Ivy after Phoenix flapped out of the way in terror. "Nasty little thing, isn't it?"

"She's not nasty!" Ivy quipped back.

"You know, she reminds me of someone. I won't say who." Jack said with a smile.

"Huh?" Ivy said, legitimately confused as to her friend's quip.

"Hey!" Alyson was shouting, her face twisted in annoyance and her arms tightly folded. "Do you guys _want _to battle or not?"

"Of course!" Jack said with a confident smile. "We're ready whenever you are,"

"Since when?" Ivy hissed in indignation, her eyes wide.

"Penny? You ready?" Alyson turned to Penny, and as the other girl nodded, a wide smile broke out over Alyson's face. "All right, Spearow! Peck! Go for the bigger Pidgey!"

"Metapod, Harden!" Penny squeaked.

Jack remained oddly calm, whistling to get Phoenix's attention before issuing a command. "Phoenix, Tackle the Spearow!"

The three Pokemon that had been given orders immediately sprang into action, but Ivy completely balked, totally unsure what to do. She wanted to shout a command, but the words caught in her throat and came out as a mere dry croak. Her reluctance didn't go unnoticed even as the Spearow and Phoenix collided in a puff of feathers and began scrapping with one another fiercely. Jack turned to her indignantly, looking furious at his friend's hesitation.

"Ivy, do something!" he cried over the sounds of Phoenix's high pitched shrieks and squawking. The little Pidgey was barely a match for the violent Spearow that was raking its claws and pointed beak across the belly of the plump little Pokemon. "Take out that Metapod at least!"

Ivy flapped and flustered for a few moments, but eventually seemed to gather herself. "Ah! Alright! Pidgey, use Gust on the Metapod!"

But Ivy's Pidgey completely ignored its trainer's command. It remained firmly on the ground, turned around slowly and looked at Ivy. Its eyes narrowed slightly and then it cheeped at her angrily. It was the sheer picture of defiance.

"What the hell?" Ivy blinked at her Pokemon's disobedience. "Pidgey, I said use Gust!"

The Pidgey spread its wings carelessly in a gesture that anyone would have said was a shrug.

Ivy just stood there in complete disbelief. "You have _got _to be kidding me…"

"Ivy!" Jack was yelling now as the Spearow and Phoenix scrapped viciously above their heads. "I could seriously use some help here!"

Ivy cursed. "All right, Pidgey! If you're not gonna use Gust, Tackle the Spearow!"

Ivy totally expected Pidgey to ignore her once again, but to her complete surprise, her Pokemon obeyed, shooting up towards the rival Spearow with almost frightening speed that she never would have attributed to a Pidgey. It bodily tackled the Spearow, sending it toppling back and allowing Phoenix to recover after the brutal attack it had sustained. Cooing softly after regaining itself, Phoenix looked up gratefully at the female Pidgey. Ivy's Pidgey however didn't seem to be amused by Phoenix's efforts or gratitude and instead delivered a swift peck to the male Pidgey's head!

Jack swore and turned to Ivy, completely shocked and demanding an explanation as to the Pidgey's behaviour. Ivy, who was just as stunned as Jack couldn't give him one. She compromised by turning towards her Pidgey and yelling at her instead. "Pidgey, what the hell? You don't attack your _teammates_! You attack your _opponents_!"

Pidgey shot Ivy a scathing look, before pointing with its wing at the Spearow, and then glaring at Phoenix. Ivy had no clue what her Pidgey was trying to tell her, but the little Pidgey certainly wasn't happy about something. Phoenix wasn't happy either, still looking stunned at the attack from its own team mate. Jack privately didn't blame the Pokemon. It wasn't a normal thing to be attacked by a member of your own team! At least to Ivy's credit, she was trying to rectify the situation… albeit a little uselessly.

Ivy chastised her Pidgey once again (her attempts basically fell on deaf ears) before ordering it to use a Tackle attack again. The Pidgey, angered at being scolded was both eager to please and desperate for something to take its annoyance out on and zoomed off immediately after the Spearow, which had only just recovered from the Pokemon's first attack. Ivy's Pidgey collided with the Spearow, knocking it back once again. On Jack's orders, a rather more hesitant Phoenix followed suit.

Jack and Ivy were so caught up in the battle raging between their Pidgeys and Alyson's Spearow, that nobody noticed Penny's Metapod continuously using Harden…

The Spearow was fast and far more agile than both Phoenix and Ivy's Pidgey and managed to evade Phoenix's rather clumsy efforts at Tackle attacks with relative ease, and even avoided Ivy's Pidgey's with what seemed like annoyingly little effort. Ivy's Pidgey began to slowly get angry and her attacks became wilder and wilder until they ended up veering off course and missing completely. However no matter how many times Ivy ordered her Pokemon to use Gust instead of Tackle, the Pidgey returned the same blank look and stubbornly refused to execute the attack.

"This is getting frustrating!" Ivy growled as the Spearow once again sailed out of the way of both Phoenix and her Pidgey. "How are we going to catch it?"

"I don't know…" Jack looked thoughtful as he consulted the battlefield. Again, Jack remained infuriatingly calm and collected in the face of pressure, as he normally did. It only served to infuriate an already tense Ivy more, who never was any good at dealing with stressful situations. "At least it can't attack us." He said a few moments later.

"Yeah, but what's gonna happen when they get tired?" Ivy hissed. "Phoenix and Pidgey will get tired and then what? That Spearow will knock them out within seconds!"

Jack looked at Ivy in surprise as if something had just occurred to him. "You know, for once, you _actually_ make a valid point."

Ivy's eye twitched. "Actually? For once?" she repeated shrilly, now beyond insulted. "Well you know what you can do? You can take my point and ram it right up your—"

They were mercifully distracted when, with an ear-piercing screech, the Spearow suddenly charged Phoenix. The little Pokemon was knocked straight to the ground, and a horrifying _crack _sounded out as the Pokemon slammed into the earth.

Jack gasped in horror. "Phoenix!"

This time, even unflappable Jack was reduced into a state of sheer panic as his grounded Pokemon began weakly struggling, nursing what looked suspiciously like a broken wing. Even worse, the Spearow was flapping ominously above him, with a look of sheer eagerness reflected in its eyes. Jack had a nasty suspicion that the Spearow was just waiting for the ideal opportunity to divebomb the poor injured Pidgey. But all of a sudden, without even needing instruction from Ivy, her Pidgey suddenly collided with the Spearow, also knocking the Pokemon straight to the ground. The Spearow squawked in indignation as it hit the ground, but its angered shrieks were suddenly replaced with ones of wrenching pain as Ivy's Pidgey suddenly swooped downwards, delivering a final Tackle attack. The Spearow cawed weakly before completely passing out. A stunned silence encompassed everyone. _No-one _had anticipated that.

"Wow…" Jack said slowly, breaking the shocked silence, as Ivy's Pidgey dropped to the ground, looking very pleased with herself. "She's ruthless. She really is just like… what was it you called her?"

"A Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey."

"Yeah, that…"

Alyson recalled her Spearow looking enraged, glaring at Penny, as if willing her timid friend to take charge and win the battle for them. Following on from Alyson's admission of defeat, Jack also conceded defeat, recalling Phoenix. His wing was badly damaged. The poor Pokemon couldn't fly, let alone attack, and was evidently in a lot of pain. In fact, Jack was worried his Pidgey's injured wing was completely broken, and he felt a rare shock of panic and guilt as he thought of his Pokemon suffering and in crushing pain, and he unable to get it fixed right away.

With Alyson's Spearow and Jack's Phoenix now incapable of battling, it was between Ivy's Pidgey and Penny's Metapod. Whichever Pokemon fell first would lose for their respective team. Ivy knew this, and she knew the inordinate amount of pressure that was on herself and her Pidgey, but despite everything, an inexplicable burst of confidence struck her. Metapod was a Bug type! And a weak one at that! Pidgey was a Flying type! Even though her Pidgey refused to use Gust, a Flying type move, she still had the advantage! She could win! It was entirely possible that she could win!

She clenched her fists. "Pidgey! Tackle attack that Metapod!"

Ivy wholly anticipated the battle to be over with just that one attack. If Jack was forced to be truthful, he too would have admitted that he also thought Ivy had it in the bag. However, as the Pidgey sped towards the Metapod, the slightest inkling of a smile touched on Penny's face.

Right on target, Pidgey slammed straight into the Metapod. Ivy eagerly awaited the sight of the Metapod buckling under the head-on collision and being thrown backwards, but to her immense shock, it never came. The Metapod didn't even waver, didn't even move under the attack, let alone be knocked backwards for any distance! It remained solid, rooted to the spot like a pillar of stone. It was like the little Pidgey had flown straight into a window. The Pidgey slid down to the ground, completely unconscious.

Ivy stood there dumbfounded for a full minute before exploding. "What… the hell… just _happened_?"

"What just happened? I'll tell you what just happened!" Alyson was jumping up and down, fist-pumping madly. "We _won, _that's what happened!"

"But how?" Ivy was practically screaming now, while Jack just stood there dumbfounded. "It's a Metapod! How could it win? Against my Pidgey?"

"While you guys were too busy scrapping up in the air and not paying attention to me, I had Metapod to keep on using Harden," Penny said with a minute shrug. "Well, it's to be expected, right? I mean, who thinks of a Metapod as any kind of threat?"

Ivy let out an incomprehensible growl.

"So Metapod's defences literally went rock hard. When Pidgey tried to take it out with Tackle, it's like the Pokemon basically hit a wall. Literally. I call it the "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" strategy."

"_You _named _your strategies?_" Ivy wanted to scream and jump up and down, but of course, she didn't. She simply couldn't She was now completely incapable of speech. All she could do was gawp uselessly at a stunned Jack and gesticulate madly in the hope of communicating some sort of sense. Jack didn't seem to be faring much better in light of this conclusion.

"So… we lost…?" he eventually surmised.

"Most definitely." Alyson said proudly.

"I see." Jack said with a swift nod, before firmly stowing Phoenix's Pokeball back into his pocket. "Well, thank you for the battle. It really taught us a lot."

He then turned on his heel and began walking away. He wordlessly motioned for Ivy to follow, but she was still too stunned to speak, let alone move.

"Hey! Wait! Wait!" Alyson yelled angrily. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"I don't think so, no."

"You think wrong!" Alyson said, stamping her foot. "You owe us money!"

Jack stopped, mid-stride to pull out the pockets of his dark jeans. They were completely empty, save a tiny, scrunched up piece of paper that fluttered away idly in the wind. He then produced his wallet, opened it and showed the coin holder to be empty. The notes section was also completely empty. "Sorry," he said blandly, putting his wallet back into the pocket of his coat. "But as it turns out, I don't _have _any money to give you."

Alyson's face immediately soured. "You son of a bitch!" she snarled. "You shouldn't go around picking Pokemon battles if you don't have money to hand over when you lose!"

"Well I guess I've learned my lesson, then." Jack said with a mild shrug. "Come along, Ivy."

Ivy didn't dare argue with Jack. She took the moment to reach over, seize her unconscious Pidgey, mutter an embarrassed 'thanks for the match' to a dumbstruck Penny and make a run for it.

Behind her, Alyson's angered protests and explosive curses seemed to turn the air blue as the two university students made their escape.

* * *

><p>"That was a lie."<p>

"Hm?"

"That was a barefaced lie and you know it,"

Jack finally looked up from filing his nails to eye his friend sitting at the edge of the Pokemon Centre bed. She was sitting tensely, almost rigidly, and had a deep frown eroding her face. "What was?" he asked.

"That we didn't have money to give them."

"I _didn't_ have money to give them."

"Yeah, but I did!" Ivy said, pulling her purse out, opening it and showing off a wad of notes tightly packed inside. Money she had received from her mother when she had left Pewter City. "And you said we didn't have money to give them…"

"No," Jack said, setting his nail file down. "I said _I _didn't have any money to give them. I never said _we _didn't have any money to give them. They never asked if _we_, meaning either you or I, had money to give them. They only asked if _I _did. Loopholes, Ivy."

"You still lied."

"I didn't lie." Jack said, shaking his head defiantly.

"How didn't you lie? You didn't tell them _I _had money I could give them! Ergo, you lied."

"'Lying means to tell something _other _than the truth. Not telling someone something is just _avoiding _the truth,'" Jack quoted.

Ivy stopped, before letting out a grunt. "_Now _who's being pedantic…?" she said huffily, but she still knew she had well and truly been beaten by her own logic. "It's still a little dishonest, you know…?" she muttered traitorously a few seconds later before leaning back and lying down on the bed.

"I know," Jack said, nodding. "But we need to keep that money. And we had better things to do than hang around pandering to them. Like get Phoenix's wing looked at."

"Mmm." Ivy said slowly. "I guess you're right. He's alright, isn't he?"

"Nurse Joy is looking after him." Jack explained, resuming filing his nails. "Says it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It's not broken, just badly sprained."

"I guess that's good news, then…" she murmured, rolling over onto her side and replaying the day's events in her head. She cringed mentally as she thought of it all, and let out a deep, moody sigh.

Jack raised his head again at the sound of her sighing. "What's the matter?"

"I can't believe we lost…" she said sadly. "If it wasn't for that stupid Metapod spamming Harden all the time we'd have won."

Jack was chuckling to himself at this point, and Ivy immediately rounded on him. "What are you laughing at?" she demanded.

"Spam," he said with a shrug.

"What?" Ivy asked tetchily.

"Spam. You know, Spam? Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, baked beans, Spam, Spam and Spam?"

Ivy returned a blank face.

Jack sighed at his friend's ignorance. "You know, sometimes I think my superior wit is wasted on you."

"Jack! Would you be quiet and listen to me for once?" Ivy chucked a pillow in Jack's direction, which once again veered completely off track and ended up on the floor.

"I apologise," Jack said primly. "What words of wisdom were you about to impart on us?"

Ivy frowned again. "You're skating on very thin ice right now." She said in a dangerously low voice.

Jack shrugged. "Hey, why skate on thin ice when you can dance on it."

"Jack!" Ivy fumed, beating her fists upon the mattress. "Will you quite talking in riddles and proverbs and just _listen _to me?"

"Fine…" Jack said wearily, uncrossing his legs and adopting a more relaxed position. "What were you saying?"

"I'm _saying_ we totally would have won had it not been for that Metapod spamming Harden."

"No, Ivy." Jack said, shaking his head. "We'd have won if your Pidgey had actually listened to you and used Gust when you wanted it to."

Ivy sighed in a resigned sort of way, her anger suddenly evaporating to be replaced with a crushing disappointment. "Yeah, I know…From the way she was acting, it was like she had no idea what I was asking her to do. Almost like she doesn't even know the move. And that doesn't make any sense…"

"Yeah. Cos you said Sebastian said she _did _know the move, right?"

"According to his Pokedex, yes." Ivy said, rather impatiently. "But I don't think she really understands how to use it."

"Some Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey…" Jack said darkly.

Ivy glared at him, but couldn't think of an appropriate response so she simply lay back down on her bed and let out a sigh that ruffled the fronds of chocolate brown hair cascading over her pale forehead. She stared upwards at the ceiling for a good few moments, lost in thought. She only vaguely heard Jack call her name a few moments later and answered with an irate 'What?"

Jack didn't even flinch in the face of his friend's harsh tones. "Ever considered giving your Pokemon nicknames?"

Ivy frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"You really wanna call them 'Kakuna' and 'Pidgey' the rest of their lives? That's a bit uninspired, don't you think?"

Ivy fought the urge to stick her tongue out at Jack, but Jack's suggestion had sparked an idea in her and she found herself very carefully considering what he had just said. "Yeah, I'll admit, just calling them by their species name is a bit silly. I mean, they could get confused!"

"Yeah…" Jack agreed.

"So, maybe it _would_ be a good idea to nickname them. But what…?" she mused. "What would be a good name for my Pidgey…?"

Jack could practically _see _the proverbial light bulb turn on over Ivy's head when a few moments later she snapped her fingers and grinned madly. "I've got it! Toni!"

Jack frowned. Before he even dared to ask, he took a moment to try and figure out Ivy's thought processes. However, try as he might, he could not make sense of it. Eventually, he gave in. "Toni?" he asked, his eyebrows knotting together.

"Yeah! Toni!" Ivy said enthusiastically, beaming with pride.

"Is that not a boy's name?" he asked, sceptically.

"Well, yeah… Tony with a 'y' is. Toni with an 'i' is more feminine."

"Okay, _that _I understand, but why on earth call a Pidgey 'Toni'? That's more of a human name, is it not?"

Ivy let out a haughty sigh. "Think about it! She's my Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey, right?"

"Right…"

"And what's one of the most common names in the Mafia?"

Jack grinned to himself. "Frankie?"

"What? No!"

"Vinny?"

"No!"

"Salvatore?"

"Oh yeah, like I'm _really _gonna call a Pidgey Salvatore, you idiot!" Ivy eventually lost her patience and aimed a punch to Jack's arm. "Tony! Like Fat Tony! The perfect name for a Mafia Boss. So, just change it about to make it more feminine, and the perfect name for my little Pidgey!"

Jack privately was cringing at Ivy's nickname choice, but the young woman seemed so happy and proud of herself for thinking it up that even he didn't quite have the heart to tell her otherwise. Instead, he compromised by clearing his throat and posing the question "What about Kakuna?"

"I really don't know…" Ivy said slowly. "That's a lot harder. I don't think I even know what _gender _Kakuna is…"

"Well, that's a big help, isn't it?" Jack said sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up." Ivy said, tossing another pillow at Jack. This one missed by even more of a spectacular margin than the first one had.

"Thank you, I wanted an extra pillow," Jack said, retrieving the two thrown pillows in one swoop and adding them to his own bed.

Ivy glared and snatched the pillows back. After a further few minutes in silence, Ivy consulted her watch. It was five in the evening now, almost time for dinner. Today had been a long day for her, she was exhausted and she was keen for it to end. So much had happened. She had barely slept the night before, ended up being found asleep in Viridian Forest in the early hours of the morning, battling Jack in a fit of anger, having Weedle evolve to Kakuna, being attacked by the Mafia Pidgey, capturing the Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey, almost getting in _another _battle with Jack and finally, suffering the humiliation of losing against two other girls. The sheer thought of everything that had happened made her want to pull a pillow over her head and just sleep the rest of the day away.

In fact, she decided to do just that and pulled a soft, fluffy pillow over her head to block out the light and noise of trainers coming from outside. She then threw her arms back behind her head and let out a deep sigh. Jack watched her, mildly amused, before continuing to file his nails.

"We need to train so much tomorrow…" she suddenly announced.

"Do we?"

"Yes!" Ivy said impatiently. "Jack, we lost. Spectacularly."

"I know, Ivy, I was_ there_." He replied dryly.

"So you should know we need to train!"

"Of course." Jack said primly. "But there's no sense in panicking over it." He paused, looking at the girl's worried face. Feeling sorry for his friend, he added softly "Tomorrow we will train, I promise."

"Promise?" Ivy said thickly.

"Promise." Jack replied deftly, before leaning over and tapping the girl on the leg with his nail file. "You do worry too much."

"Hey, it's not _your _university career hanging in the balance, here."

"Perhaps not, but you _should_ lighten up," Jack said, getting to his feet. "Life's too short to worry about every little thing. You should focus on the here and now; enjoy what's going on here. You should enjoy what you're getting to do." Silently, he added "_I know I am_," but he didn't quite dare to say it out loud. Instead he cleared his throat. "Right, I'm going down for dinner. Do you want to come?"

"Not hungry. You go ahead."

Jack's eyebrow twitched and he leaned against the wall, shaking his head. "You're just going to lie up here, stressing, panicking and feeling sorry for yourself, aren't you?" he said after a short pause.

"Yep."

Jack shook his head again and turned to leave. "Good luck with that. I'll be back later when you're done brooding." He suddenly stopped, hand on the doorknob. "And you better stay where you are. If I come back and find you anywhere apart from this room, the bathroom, in Sebastian or Michaela's room, or in the Pokemon Centre lobby, I swear to God, I will hurt you." He said this sternly, using his well-practiced 'disapproving teacher' voice that generally worked a treat with small children and 19 year old ditzy History students. This time was no exception.

"Don't worry, I won't go anywhere." She said thickly.

"Good," Jack said. "And I mean it. Don't be stressing yourself out. Tomorrow, you and I will go out and train. Assuming Phoenix's wing is better, of course. Then when we're both happy with our progress, we can go get you your Nidoran and move away from this city."

"Sounds good," Ivy replied, her reply still muffled by the pillow.

Jack took this as his cue to leave Ivy alone. Her responses had become strained, and Jack knew better than to try force conversation from her any longer. Even though he'd known her over two years now, he found it constantly amazing how someone as bright and bubbly as Ivy was the majority of the time could become so dark and depressed so quickly. Shaking his head while thinking this, he excused himself and left. Ivy didn't even care that Jack had left. She was too engrossed in her own thoughts, and felt numb to the world around her. For a while, she simply laid there, the pillow over her face. Eventually, she began overheating and in fear of suffocating, she threw it off again. With little else to do, she climbed under the bedcovers and began thinking.

"_What am I gonna do_?" she pondered. "_I need to train, but my Pokemon aren't that strong yet… How can I train them when they're not strong enough to beat any opponents? I need my Pokemon to be strong to beat other Pokemon, but to get them to that stage, I have to train them! And how do you train them? You have to battle them!_"

She rolled over in despair. "_That Penny girl had an interesting way of putting it. What did she say? A rock and a hard place? Yep. That's exactly right. No doubt about it. I am most definitely caught between a rock and a hard place. Isn't life just grand…?" _

And as if to add emphasis to the point, she picked up the last remaining pillow and flung it as hard as she could. It hit the wall this time, almost knocking a small, dun picture frame off in the process, before turning face down onto the bed. She lay there for a few moments, her mind ticking over furiously, before she eventually let out a resigned sigh, her tense body finally becoming limp. She fell asleep within a few minutes, but it was a twitchy and disturbed sleep, plagued by ominous foreshadows and whispers of failure, and worries that seeded themselves in the back of her mind, planting roots, and ingraining, only to manifest during sleep, waking her frequently and refusing to be dulled as the days passed slowly by.

"_I need to get better at this. Otherwise… otherwise I'm screwed."_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>_  
><em>

**So, here we are with another update :) **

**I hope this one doesn't disappoint :) I do have fun writing this particular story.**

**Updates will hopefully be continuing to be released weekly or bi-weekly. **

**Thanks so much for the support, and I was so so happy to receive more reviews than normal last chapter :D**

**Thanks to MasterFreezeman, WildCroconaw, I have a dictionary here, The Neverending Meep, Japaneserockergirl, TristeWilds and MidsummerMoonlight99. **

**Oh this chapter should also clear up your query, I have a dictionary here, in that Jack's Pidgey is male. **

**Until next time :) Please review, guys, it makes me so happy :D**


	12. The Terrible Trio

**Chapter Twelve  
><strong>**The Terrible Trio**

Before Ivy knew it, she was waking up on the morning of her tenth day as a Pokemon trainer. The recent few days had passed in what felt like nothing more than a mad blur of training. As the days progressed, Ivy barely left the depths of Viridian Forest, working as hard as she could (under Sebastian's patient tutelage) with Toni the Pidgey and her still unnamed Kakuna. It had taken Ivy quite some time to make any tangible progress with her Pokemon. Toni was stubborn to say the very least, quick to assert her dominance over both Ivy and the poor Kakuna. Ivy couldn't deny Toni was a strong Pokemon, which she was glad of, but there was the added difficulty that she was a handful, ferociously independent and not often willing to listen to her trainer. Even worse was the fact that the Pokemon still was unable to use Gust, despite a vigorous training regime, once again devised by Sebastian, and despite any amount of encouragement, begging, pleading, badgering, bribery and blackmail Ivy tried to use. Eventually she just gave up, deciding that Toni would only use the move when she was good and ready. It wasn't a major disaster however, as Toni still proved to be a competent battler, with a huge amount of power behind her Tackle attacks, and after the development of Quick Attack, she steadily grew stronger.

However, progress was intolerably slow when it came to Kakuna. The Pokemon unfortunately had very little defensive or attacking power, meaning it couldn't make much of an impact on opponents, and it had to, in Ivy's eloquent phrasing 'keep spamming that stupid Harden attack to avoid being knocked out in one hit!' As a result, the only Pokemon Kakuna could safely battle were Caterpie and Weedle, and the battles were frustratingly long, Ivy initially having to set up numerous Hardens to safeguard her Pokemon, and the weak Poison Sting attacks barely damaging even Caterpies and Weedles. To even defeat one Pokemon, it took an exasperatingly long time, resulting in infuriatingly slow progress. Ivy soon came to dread the idea of having to train her Kakuna every morning. Her predicament was not helped by Jack, who was sailing through opponent after opponent, both trainer and Pokemon, with Phoenix, his Pokemon advancing in strength completely incomparable to Toni or Kakuna.

The final straw came on that tenth day. It had been almost two weeks since Ivy had left home, and she felt now she was just wasting time. She recognised the importance of training, but her stubbornly slow progress was beginning to plant the idea that she needed a change of scenery and opponents, in particular to try and encourage Toni, who was now slacking and refusing to fight the local weak Pokemon. As well as Toni's stubbornness, she also realised that Kakuna simply couldn't get the experience he needed to get stronger from the Caterpie and Weedle. So Ivy, after waking up that morning and simply wanting to roll over and go back to sleep at the thought of having to endure through another bad day, made an executive decision.

The only reason they hadn't moved on from Viridian was because Route 22, a route near Viridian, was the earliest possible place they could find a Nidoran, a Pokemon Ivy needed for her course. But Ivy was sick and tired of Viridian and she was desperate to leave. She deduced that she would have to eliminate the only thing keeping them there. So, that morning, she told Sebastian, Robert, Michaela and Jack that she would be training in Viridian Forest as normal, but instead headed west of Viridian City into the quiet Route 22.

Ivy remembered that Route 22, according to what Sebastian had told her, was the route that trainers supposedly traversed to reach Victory Road and the Pokemon League. However, Victory Road was guarded by a series of huge gates that simply would not open for trainers unless they had obtained the necessary badges to enter the Pokemon League. As such, the rare and immensely powerful Pokemon that could be found in Victory Road were contained, leaving Route 22 a safe and secure haven for several uncommon, but relatively weak species native to it.

Ivy picked her way cautiously through the grassy Route 22. It was a long route, dotted with rivers and hills, abundant with trees and tall grassy patches. Ivy could hear the calls of Pidgey as flocks flew overhead. It was a sound she had grown rather fond of, if she was completely honest. She was nervous of other trainers, particularly skilled ones, being around, but the place was mercifully empty so far as she could see. Satisfied the place was secure enough, she released Toni and Kakuna.

Toni soared above her head as soon as she tasted freedom from the Pokeball, pointedly ignoring her trainer's orders to stay close, while a grounded Kakuna stared indignantly up at Ivy until she reached down to pick it up. Ivy let out a tortured sigh. Her Pokemon were hopeless sometimes, she felt.

"We're looking for Nidoran, Kakuna." Ivy explained to her Pokemon as they slowly made their way across the route. "Can you see any?"

The Kakuna looked unimpressed and said nothing.

"Jeez." Ivy frowned, shifting the heavy Kakuna into a more secure position. "You're not much help, are you?"

The Kakuna still said nothing.

Ivy groaned and had to hoist up the Kakuna again as it began slipping out of her grasp again. "You're getting heavy…" She moaned. "I'm not gonna be able to carry you for much longer. You need to hurry up and evol—whoa!"

It was only just in time that Ivy looked down and stopped herself from standing on what looked to be some kind of Pokemon nest. It was empty, thankfully, much to Ivy's relief and she side-stepped around it neatly, letting out a sigh. She glanced around, looking for whatever it was that owned the nest, but she saw nothing. There were no Pokemon to be seen at all. She felt a little unnerved, but pushed herself to keep walking. As she continued, she found several more nests, all of them empty and completely devoid of life. She found it strange to see so many nests, but so little Pokemon…

However, she found out where the Pokemon from the nests were a few moments later. A little pond nearby had a variety of young, infant and baby Pokemon congregating around it, calmly drinking the cool water. Ivy cocked her head, trying to figure out what Pokemon were there. There were several tiny Mankey, similar to the one her sister Michaela owned, a few infant Spearow with downy feathers, watched over by a larger Spearow, and then, her heart leapt when she saw a tiny blue Pokemon sitting by itself on the other end of the pond.

A Nidoran!

She almost dropped Kakuna in her excitement and had to scramble to get a secure hold of her Pokemon as it slipped from her hands. She whistled for Toni who, after a long period of pretending not to hear, eventually listened and came to rest on a branch above her. Ivy's mind immediately began racing at the prospect of capturing the Nidoran, but then she forced herself to think sensibly. If she charged in rashly, she risked the Pokemon scattering or even worse, attacking.

So instead, she sat down on her haunches and waited.

The family of Mankey left fairly quickly, but Ivy didn't dare move until she saw the Fighting type Pokemon disappear completely from sight up a tree and stay away for a good five minutes. The Spearow also took flight a few moments later. Ivy panicked as Toni suddenly seemed to take an interest in pursuing the flock of Spearow, and she desperately called her Pidgey back, suddenly afraid the Spearow would tear the young Pidgey apart.

The Nidoran, which Ivy recognised as being the female one of the species, looked a bit bemused to suddenly be left alone, but it continued lazily drinking from the pond. Taking her chance, her heart in her mouth, Ivy gently set Kakuna down.

"Toni!" Ivy commanded. "Use Quick Attack on the Nidoran!"

The Quick Attack knocked the unsuspecting Nidoran straight back from the pond. It tumbled backwards, looking shocked, clambered back onto its feet before immediately turning on its heel and running! Ivy blinked in shock as the Pokemon began fleeing. She looked in confusion at Kakuna who returned a blank stare. From what she had gathered, Pokemon weren't normally meant to _flee _under attack! They were meant to fight back!

Ivy clenched her fists. She wasn't going to let that Nidoran get away! Not when it was so close to her. "Toni!" she hollered. "Quick Attack again!"

As Toni zoomed in, the Nidoran squeaked in terror, but fought back this time, lashing out with her claws. However, the weak Scratch barely affected Ivy's tough Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey and she performed excellently under attack, delivering another Quick Attack, flipping the Nidoran over onto her side. The Nidoran squealed, unable to get back up. Toni landed next to the struggling Nidoran, twitching its head and looking vaguely unimpressed at the sight she was seeing.

Ivy grabbed her Kakuna and heaved it over to the side of the struggling Nidoran. She couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the Nidoran, now growling feebly at the sight of the strange human and two Pokemon now towering over her.

"Easy girl," Ivy murmured, reaching her hand down to touch the frightened Pokemon's belly. She was wary of the developing horn on the Pokemon's head, knowing it could secrete a particularly nasty poison. She wholly expected the Nidoran to try and jab her with the aforementioned horn to scare her off, but to her shock, the Pokemon seemed to relax under Ivy's hand and gentle touch. It stopped growling and struggling and became quite still. Ivy let out a little murmur.

"Come on, you come with me and I'll get you healed up," she told the trembling Pokemon gently as she tapped her with the Pokeball.

Ivy expected the Nidoran to struggle, resist capture as she knew all Pokemon did. But this one didn't. With remarkably little resistance, the Pokeball sucked the little Nidoran inside. It barely even twitched before a _ding _sounded out.

Ivy sat there for a full few minutes, staring at the Pokeball in complete shock. It took a long time for her to finally grasp the concept of what had just happened.

"_I've done it…_" she thought shakily. "_I've caught a Pokemon! All by myself!_ I_ got _my _Pokemon to battle and weaken a wild Pokemon and I caught it!_" she fought the urge to jump up and down in excitement, but decided that would be a bit embarrassing on the chance she was seen.

She cleared her throat and pressed down on the release button of the Pokeball. Her Nidoran appeared, curled up in a ball and panting heavily. While the Pokemon had been calm before entering the Pokeball it was a completely different story now. Her eyes were wide and frightened and she was trembling in fear again as Ivy approached her. The Nidoran had sustained a nasty scratch that was leaking beads of blood from Toni's attack and Ivy quickly set to fixing it, spraying a light covering of Potion over the injury. This didn't help calm the Nidoran down and it began to struggle again. Ivy tried reassuring the Pokemon using a soft tone, exactly like Jack had taught her, but that didn't seem to help either. Finally, stumped as to what else to do, Ivy motioned for Kakuna and Toni to try and make the Pokemon feel better.

Toni fluffed up and shook her feathers in defiance, cawing indignantly. Kakuna just returned a blank stare and said and did nothing.

Ivy let out an angered sigh. "Well this is just grand. I've got a Pidgey that thinks she's a Mafia Boss and above listening to me, a Kakuna that just doesn't care and now a Nidoran that's scared of her own shadow. Someone up there must be having a right laugh at my expense…"

Sighing slightly, she recalled all three Pokemon and began the walk back to the Pokemon Centre.

It was approaching midday now and although the sun was warm, there was a pleasant cool breeze rolling in that kept Ivy refreshed as she walked. She found herself thinking of her new Nidoran. It was a cowardly little thing, really, she thought with a short sigh. It was probably young, she reasoned. She was likely to be in the same situation Jack had been in with Phoenix. She had a young, unskilled Pokemon that would need intensive one-on-one training to bring up to its full potential. At that point, she'd have been lying if she said the idea of having to do so much rigorous training didn't make her want to completely give up.

"_I have to do it, though_." She told herself firmly "_I've come really far… I've caught two Pokemon for my course already. All they need is some training to evolve. And this is only after ten days! I'm doing okay!" _she clenched her fists. "_I can't quit. I can't let Jack down or the Rhodes cousins down. And I know Michaela would never let me live it down, either…_"

Her mind began wandering as she walked and it soon settled on the problem of not knowing a good nickname to give her new Nidoran. Nothing came to her and she let out a deep sigh. She found her lack of inspiration annoying to say the least. It also occurred to her that she was still blanking on a good nickname for her Kakuna. Kakuna was her first Pokemon and she hadn't even given it a nickname. She didn't even know what _gender _her Kakuna was!

Shaking her head, she put thoughts of her Kakuna to the back of her mind and continued thinking about her Nidoran. She remembered that Nidoran were quite an unusual case in that the male and female versions of Nidoran were totally different. It was common enough to see Pokemon that had slight gender differences, she knew that, but it was quite rare to see Pokemon with completely different physiology and a different evolutionary line for the two different genders. A male Nidoran would eventually evolve into a Nidoking, whilst a female Nidoran would evolve into a Nidoqueen. Ivy didn't need a Nidoqueen or a Nidoking though; she only needed a Nidorino or a Nidorina.

She continued thinking about Nidoran and her nickname problem as she approached Viridian City once again. She remembered a children's book she had once seen Jack in possession of. A story about two star-crossed Nidoran named Romeo and Juliet from different families who had to conduct their romantic relationship totally in secret. Of course, the story was heavily edited from the original Shakespeare play, as it was geared for younger children, but the basic story of a forbidden love between Juliet, a female Nidoran, and Romeo, a male Nidoran, remained the same.

"Juliet." Ivy said out loud, liking the way it sounded. "Hmm," she lifted out the Pokeball that held her newly caught Nidoran. "I actually kinda like that. Toni, Juliet and… Kakuna." She had to admit, that sounded rather anti-climatic and she had to stifle a giggle at her poor, still nicknameless Kakuna.

She felt quite pleased with herself for coming up with this nickname at this point and she continued with an optimistic spring in her step back to the Pokemon Centre. She found it surprisingly busy with passing trainers, and oddly enough, found Jack sitting engrossed in front of the TV munching mindlessly on snacks and sipping on juice.

"Jack? What are you doing here?"

Jack stopped, looking up at Ivy over the lenses of the blue rimmed glasses he wore whenever he watched television. His eyebrows rose. "I could say the same for you. I thought you were meant to be training in Viridian Forest?"

"Emm…" Ivy said guiltily. "I kinda… got a little sidetracked."

"What the hell did you do?" Jack asked at once.

"Eh?" Ivy said, flustered. "I didn't _do _anything!"

"Well, what did you break?"

"I didn't break anything!"

"Lose anything?"

"No!"

"Well, what did you—?"

"I didn't _do _anything! Jack, would you _listen _to me?"

"Hmm," Jack didn't look convinced. He eventually relented. "I guess I may as well. What happened?"

"I caught a Nidoran!"

Jack looked stunned. "You what?"

"I caught a Nidoran, look!"

She pulled out the Pokeball, pressed down on the release mechanism and the Pokemon was expelled forward. The tiny Nidoran's eyes widened at the strange, new surroundings and the sight of the unfamiliar young man standing in front of her made her squeal in horror and cover her eyes with her paws. Ivy cringed slightly at her Pokemon's display, and knelt down trying to reassure the Pokemon to come out of hiding.

"What's scared her?" Jack asked, his eyebrow twitching.

"I think you have,"

"Me?" Jack said, frowning. "Why would _I _scare her?"

"Don't take it personally," Ivy said with a sheepish smile, stroking the trembling Juliet softly. "I think Juliet is just scared of everything…"

"Juliet?" Jack asked frowning. "Why on earth would you—" He then broke off, thinking better of it. "Actually no, I don't wanna know…"

"But isn't this awesome?" Ivy grinned. "I caught a Nidoran, Jack! Which means with Toni, I now have two Pokemon on my list! Well, once I evolve them, of course! And I caught her all by myself!"

"A timid little thing like that doesn't look like she'd put up much of a fight…"

"Oh, don't be a spoilsport!" Ivy said, aiming a punch at Jack. "Besides!" she added with a triumphant grin. "I'm the one sitting here with three Pokemon and you've only got one."

"Well, I prefer quality over quantity, my dear."

"Well… I think you need to shut up!" Ivy punched Jack weakly again. "Come on, be happy for me."

"I'm more _worried_ about you… an angry Pidgey, an "I don't care about anything" Kakuna, and a scaredy-cat Nidoran. You're gonna have your work cut out for you…"

"That's exactly what I was thinking earlier…" Ivy said with a frown. She tapped Juliet lightly with her Pokeball and the Pokemon was sucked inside. "It's gonna be a lot of work, isn't it?"

"Well, they do say that a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor," Jack said wisely.

Ivy stared at her friend, shaking her head in exasperation. "You really need to stop talking in riddles…"

Jack shrugged.

Ivy groaned slightly, realising this was about the extent of the sense she would be receiving from her best friend for the day. "Listen, I'm gonna go heal my Pokemon and then go back out and train for a bit, okay?"

Jack nodded, absent-mindedly returning to the snacks he had in his hands.

"Wish me luck," she said in a forced sing-song voice as she got up.

"Luck," Jack deadpanned.

"_I'll need it,_" Ivy added silently as she left.

She returned late that night after spending some more time on Route 22, working with Kakuna, Toni and Juliet. It had been a hard training session. Kakuna hadn't been interested and had to be coaxed into battling, and even when it did decide it wanted to cooperate, it was barely able to defeat any enemies. Toni had been the exact opposite, picking on everything she had seen, divebombing them with Quick Attack and Tackles, and then starting on Ivy when she dared to chastise her. Ivy was still having no luck teaching the Pidgey how to use Gust, and no amount of instruction or embarrassing demonstration would make any difference. She wasn't having much luck with Juliet either, who only knew a feeble Growl and an even weaker Scratch. Progress was made, but it was intolerably slow, Juliet needing extreme encouragement to attack.

She found herself repeating Jack's words to herself over and over again, trying to convince herself that all the difficulties and hardships she was facing now would pay off in the end.

"_A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor…"_

That night as she returned, frazzled and stressed over the little progress she had made, the news had already spread among the rest of their party that she had captured a Nidoran. Sebastian was quick to praise Ivy and give her advice on how to train timid Pokemon, and his knowledge was enthusiastically welcomed by the strained young woman, and she picked up a number of useful hints. Michaela grinned at the idea her sister had a Nidoran, before proudly showing off a massive Nidorino she had in her team, Ivy promptly almost falling off her seat at the sheer sight of it. Robert merely shook his head and continued eating, not even caring.

Ivy expressed her desire to leave the next day for Pewter City, and the others agreed that it would be the best idea. Sebastian, after consulting his Pokedex, deduced that the best course of action would be to search Lavender Town to look for the elusive Cubone that was next on Ivy's list. It would take a long time to reach there, at least a week or at most, two weeks. Sebastian planned out their journey with military precision. They would travel to Pewter first, travel through Mt Moon to reach Cerulean, head back down to Saffron, before finally turning east and emerging in Lavender Town. It would give them the perfect opportunity to train on the road, and Sebastian was hinting quite strongly to Jack in particular that he needed to start capturing more Pokemon to enhance his team.

But as Sebastian enthusiastically explained to Jack and Ivy that they would easily find a Cubone somewhere in Lavender Town, no-one noticed a smile curling onto Robert's face and a short chuckle escape him.

As night fell, Ivy was still troubled by worries that simply would not leave her alone. Her recurring insecurities and doubts about her abilities and her Pokemon's lack of progress taunted and mocked her every waking moment. Jack held no such worries, and was sleeping peacefully, in such a deep sleep that he was snoring slightly. Ivy on the other hand, tossed and turned, horribly tense, tortured with worry and desperate for some manner of reassurance, but Jack would not wake up, even when she repeatedly hissed his name into the darkness.

Still fraught with worry, a strange thought occurred to her. She turned her head to look at the bedside cabinet and saw the three Pokeballs lying idly there. She was desperate for some kind of company…

She soon learned that it was impossible to open Pokeballs quietly, and the noises of all three of them bursting open sounded deafening in the bitter quiet. She cursed violently under her breath as her Pokemon emerged, but Jack didn't even react to the noise that seemed thunderous to her. Her Pokemon were still sleeping as they were released from the Pokeball, and they had all landed on her bed. Toni was curled up into a tiny ball at the edge, while Juliet was sprawled out, her feet twitching, and a small snore escaping her every now and again. Kakuna sat solidly, but as Ivy shifted under the blankets, it suddenly awoke. Ivy froze guiltily as her Kakuna stared at her.

"What…?" she whispered.

The Kakuna said nothing.

"What?" she hissed, even more irately.

The Kakuna still remained silent.

"Ugh, you're impossible." Ivy said, flopping onto her back. "Letting you guys out was a bad idea," she decided, before rolling onto her side and closing her eyes.

Oddly enough, the presence of her Pokemon had a strange calming effect on Ivy, and she dropped off to sleep only a few moments later. Kakuna sat there for a few moments, watching his slumbering trainer, before glancing back at the sleeping Pidgey and now very loudly snoring Nidoran before squeezing his eyes shut angrily. The noises the other two were making were too loud for him to sleep.

So he hopped forward, a difficult procedure for a Pokemon with no legs on such a soft, uneven surface until he reached Ivy. He looked down, spotted a small opening under the duvet and proceeded to wriggle in until he was safely secured underneath the warm blankets. As he lay there, his trainer murmured in her sleep, and suddenly her arms wrapped around him! The Pokemon initially struggled against the trainer's vicelike grip, but gradually the feeling of warmth around his body made the Pokemon feel safe and secure and he let out a contented sigh. A peculiar happy feeling encompassed him as the Pokemon also drifted off to sleep…

He was totally unaware of the change that was about to overwhelm him as he slept.

Or the pandemonium it would cause the next morning...

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Hi guys :)**

**As I've said before in the Free Spirits update, I have been left completely internet-less. I've had to rely on friends to get my updates out…**

**Hopefully I won't dawdle too long for the next update, expect it by the beginning of the week at least, okay? **

**Thanks to my reviewers TristeWilds, I have a dictionary here, MasterFreezeman, Shadow Serenity 57 and musa lover. **

**Until next time! Please read and review!**


	13. Home Comforts

**Chapter Thirteen  
><strong>**Home Comforts**

"Bzz… bzz… bzz…"

"Mm…" Ivy moaned.

"Bzz… bzz… bzz…"

"Mmm…" she swatted weakly at the faint tickle of something at her nose.

"Bzz… bzz… bzz…"

"Mmm!" Ivy murmured indignantly as the tickling suddenly intensified.

"Bzz… bzz… bzz…"

The slow, rhythmic, yet soft buzzing was slowly permeating her hazy consciousness, but still she tried to ignore it. The lure of sleep was so powerful, and the warm comfort she was enveloped her was simply too pleasant for her to focus on anything else. Despite this, she could feel a peculiar presence in her arms and conscious of an odd breeze wafting over her face. But yet, she ignored it, kept her eyes tightly shut and embraced sleep once again.

"Ivy…"

The voice was far away and so soft and muffled that she barely even heard it.

"Ivy…" the voice came again, this time louder and sharper, punctuating her sleepy state like a bullet. Her body jerked as the voice came once more and her eyes began fluttering of their own accord. She began protesting vaguely and buried her head into the pillow.

"Ivy! Wake up."

"No…" she mumbled.

"Ivy, I seriously suggest waking up."

She felt a tugging on the blankets. Her bare feet were suddenly exposed to bitterly cold air and she squealed, begging her assailant to leave her alone.

A sigh of exasperation sounded above her. "Ivy, you lazy arse. Get up! Or else—!"

It was at that point that Ivy lost her temper. Angered by the constant invasion of her sleep, she suddenly yanked hard on the covers to grab them back, displaying strength that neither she, nor Jack, would have attributed to her. However, in the process of this, her elbow suddenly collided with something soft. No sooner had she made contact with it, an angry, rapid, high-pitched buzzing suddenly sounded in her ear, coupled with a sudden vibration that seemed to shake the whole bed. At last, Ivy jerked fully awake, her eyes wide and the first thing she saw was a vibrant yellow and black striped pattern.

She screamed.

"Beeeeeedrill!"

With a flurry of blankets the black and yellow striped _thing _suddenly lifted out and flew into the air, buzzing irately. Ivy screamed, threw herself back in sheer panic and backed off until she hit the wall and could go no further. Thrown off balance by Ivy's sudden movements, Jack accidentally fell forwards and sprawled out onto the mess of blankets, while whatever it was flew manically around the room! From nearby, underneath the pile of blankets, and almost squashed by Jack, Toni screeched and cawed, her claws scrabbling uselessly against the tough fabrics. Juliet, who had been curled up at the edge of the bed, squeaked in terror, threw herself off the bed and dived underneath, trembling.

As the commotion from the tiny Pokemon Centre room reached frantic levels, no-one idly passing by the room could fail to hear it. Ivy screamed relentlessly as the buzzing didn't cease, the shrill and high pitched shrieks only serving to anger the irate Beedrill more, while Jack, caught up in the tendrils of the blankets attempted to both free himself and calm Ivy down, but in trying to do both, ended up doing neither. Thankfully, the commotion reached the ears of a friendly ally walking by the room.

But as the door swung open, banging off the opposite wall violently, Ivy screamed even more from the sudden noise, her whole body simply fuelled by panic and her brain unable to even process the tiniest of details. Not even Sebastian's familiar voice would calm her down.

"What on earth is going _on _in here?"

He stopped in his tracks when he saw a giant, angry Beedrill buzzing around the light fitting, its massive stingers raised.

"A Beedrill?" He gasped. "How did that get in here?"

"I think its Ivy's!" Jack cried, suddenly finally managing to disentangle himself from the blankets he was wrapped up in. He stood up, but thought better of it when the Beedrill suddenly lunged for him. He had to dive forward onto his own bed to avoid it, and the angry Beedrill collided straight with the wall, only centimetres away from Ivy. Ivy screamed and threw herself away from the Beedrill, almost tumbling off the bed in the process.

The Beedrill was dazed for only a few moments before it took fright again, returning to buzzing around the entire room. Sebastian had the inkling it was looking for a way to escape the tiny room and he closed the door firmly shut behind him. He remembered what Jack had said, and looked at him in shock. "You think that's_ Ivy's_ Beedrill?"

"How is it mine?" Ivy screeched in indignation, hiding behind a fistful of blankets "I had a Kakuna when I went to bed last night!"

"Well it was in your bed when I woke up this morning!" Jack yelled back as the frightened Beedrill began ricocheting off the walls. He winced with every _thud _that sounded out. It was like the Pokemon was trying to bust straight _through _the walls!

"In my_ bed_?" Ivy yelped, looking horrified.

"Ohh…" Sebastian said slowly, finally understanding. "He must have evolved during the night, then," he stated, nodding his head. "Well done, Ivy. You finally had it evolve. Though I don't understand how you could've _slept _through it evolving…" he added with a short chuckle.

But Ivy wasn't interested as to how the Beedrill had come to be in her room, or how she had apparently slept through it changing. The only thing she cared about was getting it sedate and calm, preferably avoiding being stung to death in the process. As the Beedrill flew past her, missing her by what felt like only a few inches, she shrieked again. "How am I gonna calm it down?" she cried to Sebastian. "Why is it so angry?"

"Probably just shock," Sebastian said, ducking his head calmly to avoid the Beedrill as it shot past him. "How would you feel if you went to bed one way and then you woke up and you had taken on a completely different appearance? Try talking to him, you might be able to calm it down."

"It'll attack me!" Ivy screeched as it flew past her again, buzzing madly, stingers raised.

Sebastian had to admit that the Beedrill looked frightening, but for the sake of everyone in the room, including that poor Beedrill, he needed to get Ivy to step up and take responsibility. "He won't attack you," he told Ivy firmly. "You tell him to stop, he'll stop."

"Do it, Ivy." Jack urged.

Ivy let out a vague squeak of protest, but all the same leaned forward and looked up at her panicked Beedrill. "Kak—" she stopped, cursing. "Maybe a nickname would have been better after all," she remarked darkly to herself, before trying again. "B-Beedrill! Stop that!"

But her pleas fell on deaf ears and the Pokemon still continued to rampage around the room. Ivy glanced helplessly at Sebastian.

"Try again!" he told her.

"It won't work!" she wheedled, but a firm look from Sebastian made her obey, albeit a little reluctantly. "B…Be…Beedrill! Ca…Calm down, okay?" she begged of her Pokemon. "It's okay! Just calm down."

But her Beedrill simply wouldn't calm down. It twitched angrily, hearing her voice and then suddenly lunged for her! She screamed and ducked, the Beedrill slamming straight into the wall where her head would have been only a few seconds ago. Completely dazed and almost unconscious, it dropped to the bed, buzzing weakly. Ivy flew off the bed and dived onto Jack's, scrambling to get behind him as protection, trembling.

"Sebastian, what do I do?" she cried, looking close to hysterical tears as her Beedrill struggled to get airborne again, droning weakly.

Sebastian winced. That Beedrill was unusually aggressive, even for just having evolved unexpectedly. It was totally panicked and fraught, and Ivy wasn't faring much better. There wasn't much of a chance of her calming it her down when she herself was the farthest thing from calm you could get. He sighed, knowing that Pokemon had to be stopped immediately before it seriously hurt someone. "You'll have to recall it."

Ivy didn't need telling twice. She lunged for the Beedrill's Pokeball and grabbed it, before it almost slipped from her grasp. She was shaking so much that it took her a few attempts to get her aim right. She eventually caught the Pokemon in the red beam, and no sooner had the buzzing ceased and the red light disappeared, she slumped backwards, exhausted and let out a shaky sigh. Even Jack heaved a sigh of relief.

Sebastian on the other hand, was smiling. "Well that was an interesting wake-up call, wasn't it?"

Ivy let out a nervous laugh. There was nothing else she _could _do anymore. She turned to look at Sebastian, whom she was shocked to see smiling at her pleasantly that she couldn't say anything. However, the smile was so genuine and contagious that Ivy couldn't help a smile from tugging at her lips. She then began laughing, Sebastian too chuckling merrily as Ivy's laugh rang out. The only one who didn't laugh was Jack, who was sitting on the bed, dumbfounded and open-mouthed.

"They're laughing." He said flatly. "We almost just got mauled by an angry Beedrill and they're just sitting there laughing to themselves. Unbelievable."

He then caught sight of a tiny face emerging from under the bed. Ivy's Nidoran, Juliet, looked positively terrified as she poked her little face out, daring to expose no more than her nose and eyes, it seemed. Jack smiled at the little Pokemon.

"Eh, Juliet? It's unbelievable, isn't it?" he said to the little Nidoran.

But no sooner had Jack spoken to the little Nidoran, it shrieked and scurried under the bed again, making Jack's eye twitch in annoyance. "Really…?" he said in exasperation, before sighing and glancing back at Sebastian and Ivy still roaring with laughter. "Unbelievable." He reiterated firmly, before reluctantly dragging himself off the bed.

Sebastian left soon after that, still laughing weakly and shaking his head, leaving Jack and Ivy alone to get dressed. As she got ready, Ivy's mind ticked over the morning's strange events.

"_Kakuna's evolved…_" she thought in wonder as she dressed. "_My Pokemon's evolved. Into its final evolution. Wow… after just two weeks, I have a Pokemon that's in its final evolution. That's pretty incredible._"

She still couldn't help but worry however as she went down for breakfast. Her Beedrill had been so frightened and it had seemed so powerful, almost like it wouldn't even hesitate to attack her, his own trainer. She just hoped that behaviour was simply attributed to the shock from the evolution and that it wouldn't continue to be an issue. She was still however a little too scared to release the Beedrill to find out however, and told herself it was a good idea to leave it to calm down first before she attempted anything like that.

As they arrived down to breakfast, they discovered that news had spread that Ivy's Kakuna had evolved. Michaela in particular found the story of how they had discovered that news particularly amusing and laughed so hard she choked on her toast. Robert smiled secretly to himself, also privately finding Sebastian's recount of the morning's event also hilarious, but didn't dare to say so. Ivy was embarrassed to say the very least, hiding her face behind the plate of fresh fruit she was eating.

As the others laughed at her expense, she found herself zoning out, the conversation around her gradually fading away and eventually muting. She was thinking about the Beedrill again, particularly her slip-up at almost calling it 'Kakuna' again. Toni the Pidgey and Juliet the Nidoran both had nicknames, so it only seemed right and decent that the Beedrill also have one. She thought about it for some time, before an idea suddenly occurred to her and a big grin spread across her face.

"Scorpio." She announced, banging her spoon off the table for added effect.

With just that one word, she silenced the entire of the conversation that had been taking place and everyone turned to gawp at her. Jack in particular choked over the mouthful of cereal he had just put to his mouth.

"What?" he asked slowly.

"Scorpio." Ivy said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No…" Jack said warily. "I'm pretty sure I'm a Virgo."

"Huh?" Ivy's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

Sebastian grinned, catching on immediately. "_I'm_ a Scorpio!" he chipped in enthusiastically.

"Oh! Star signs!" Ivy grinned, finally getting it and now completely distracted from her original thought. "Actually, now that I think about it… I was _almost_ a Scorpio. I'm actually a Sagittarius."

"Robert's a Taurus." Sebastian said with a snort, elbowing his cousin in the gut, making the elder Rhodes cousin swear and drop the piece of toast he had just picked up. "Kind of fitting, huh?"

"Oh yeah!" Ivy giggled. "A Taurus! I can see that!"

"Shut up," Robert remarked, rescuing the piece of toast from the floor which had, of course, landed butter side down.

"I'm a Pisces," Michaela intercepted, but it quickly became evident nobody was listening to her. She sighed. "Not that anyone _cares_…" she added darkly, shooting glares in Sebastian and Ivy's direction as their conversation became animated.

As the two of them wittered on blithely about star signs, lucky numbers, ruling planets and personality traits, Robert was just staring, oddly perplexed at the topic of conversation, clutching onto new piece of toast that had only been half buttered. Michaela looked like she wanted to bang the younger Rhodes cousin and her older sister's heads together and Jack looked like he'd just been hit with a brick.

"Ivy!" he finally managed to time a break in the eager conversation to interrupt. "What _about _Scorpio?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah!" She said, as she remembered, banging the table with her spoon to add emphasis, almost making the milk jug bounce off the table alongside the gesture. "Scorpio! What do you think of that as a nickname for Beedrill?"

Four blank faces looked back at her.

"Scorpio… for a Beedrill…?" Jack said slowly, glancing at Sebastian as if willing the other young man to confirm what he had just heard as correct. "Call me Old Mr Unobservant, but I don't really see the link…"

"Well, Scorpio is like scorpion, right? And scorpions have stingers, same as bees and wasps do, right?"

"Right…?" Jack said warily.

"So, there's your link!"

Jack blinked. "That's _it_?"

"What more do you want?"

"How about a nickname that actually makes sense?" Michaela quipped.

There was a silence as everyone looked at Michaela.

"I like her," Robert suddenly said decisively, before biting violently into the piece of toast he had almost forgotten about. "I think she must have gotten all the common sense chromosomes in the family, cos you certainly don't have any, Ivy."

"Eh?" Ivy asked, not getting it.

"Oh never mind," he said hotly, looking like he was about ready to bang the table with his first in exasperation.

"Anyway!" Sebastian chipped in as he sensed his older cousin's temper beginning to fray. "So, Scorpio, huh?"

He was fighting to keep a grin off his face at the nickname suggestion, as was Jack, but thankfully Ivy didn't notice this.

"Yeah!" she cried enthusiastically. "Scorpio the Beedrill, Toni the Pidgey and Juliet the Nidoran. I like it!"

"They're certainly… um… unique…" Sebastian agreed, stifling a snort.

"That's one word for it," Michaela and Robert remarked darkly in unison.

Sebastian glared at them, shaking his head, before attempting to rescue the conversation. "Anyway," he said, looking at Ivy. "Didn't you say you wanted to make a move to Pewter today? We're heading for Lavender Town after that Cubone next, right?"

At the mention of Cubone, Robert snorted to himself.

"Oh yeah!" Ivy said brightly. "Back home to Pewter City. It'll be nice getting to travel again. I'll feel like a real Pokemon trainer again!"

"A real Pokemon trainer…?" Jack's brow knitted together as he stared at his friend. "Then what the hell have you been up until now?"

"Oh, you know what I mean!" she flapped, struggling to find a way to explain her logic, which she admitted hadn't been expressed the way she wanted it to. "Travelling and Pokemon trainers are you know… what's that word? Syna- syno—cinna… cinnamon…?" she suddenly asked, looking confused.

"Synonymous." Sebastian and Jack chorused.

"Yeah, that." She nodded. "_Synonymous _with each other. Real Pokemon trainers travel. You know, to get badges and battle and all that stuff. I don't really feel like a real Pokemon trainer if I'm not on the move…"

Sebastian couldn't argue with her logic and nodded approvingly.

"So yeah!" she surmised cheerfully. "I wanna get going to Pewter today."

"I think we can do that," Sebastian said with a nod. "After breakfast, anyway. If we don't get distracted, we should be there by midday at the latest."

"Alright!" Ivy cheered happily. "I'm excited." she stated needlessly with a beaming grin.

Michaela rolled her eyes and Jack simply sighed, but neither of them said anything. Robert however was a totally different matter, muttering darkly to himself under his breath.

"How we let ourselves be ordered about by that ball of ditz, I'll _never _know…" he said with a hearty sigh, finding himself wishing, and not for the first time, for a little bit of the quiet life.

Unfortunately, much to Robert's lamentations, he didn't seem destined for the quiet life, as no sooner was breakfast over and they had checked out from the Pokemon Centre, they were on the road to Pewter City. The journey there was mercifully a quiet, untroubled one.

Viridian Forest was traversed in a fraction of the time it normally took and the walk from outside the Forest into the main city, although fairly long, was strangely calm and peaceful, conducted in a comfortable silence.

Ivy found herself particularly keen to be returning to her home city once again, eager to show her parents and two other siblings the progress she had made after only just less than two full weeks as a Pokemon trainer. For Michaela however, the thought of returning home was a far sobering thought, and in all honesty, she found herself dreading it. In the three and a half months since she had been the road, she had barely even spoken to her parents and siblings on the phone, much less seen them, so engrossed she had been in her adventure. She had relished the thought of independence so whole-heartedly that thoughts of her family had just faded away completely. And now, faced with the idea that she would be returning to her family home, she felt quite sick. A strange feeling of guilt arose in her that intensified with every step she took, and she found herself wishing she could weasel out of it somehow. But, of course, she knew she couldn't. Not without having to explain to Ivy the reasons behind it…

When they reached the stony suburbs of Pewter City, Jack, Sebastian and Robert tactfully excused themselves to go to a Pokemart, revealing they were running low on supplies. Jack in particular was in urgent need, as he explained, somewhat sheepishly, that he had not yet purchased any Pokeballs or medicine of his own. Ivy was shocked at this revelation. It was most unlike her extremely (and somewhat anally) organised best friend to neglect such an important necessity.

The young men left soon after they walked the girls to the McKenzie household, leaving the exuberant Ivy and a nervous Michaela to their own devices. Upon reaching the door, they were surprised to find their family home unlocked, but completely empty of life.

"I wonder where everyone is," Ivy said aloud as she casually strolled into the living room, stopping briefly to grab a can of lemonade from the fridge as she passed.

"Work and school?" Michaela said slowly as she carefully sat her bag down on the floor and gingerly sat at the edge of the sofa. She was feeling inexplicably nervous as she took in the scarily familiar surroundings.

Ivy on the other hand held no such reservations. She threw herself bodily into an armchair, the whole thing sliding back as she flopped into it, snapped open the can of lemonade, gulped from it noisily, and kicked off her shoes, curling her feet under her body.

Michaela watched her. "How can you do that…?"

"Huh?" Ivy said, over the rim of her lemonade can. "Do what?"

"Act so…" Michaela gestured uselessly, unable to express herself properly. "At _home_, I guess."

Ivy blinked. "Cos it _is _home."

"Not really." Michaela said with a minute shrug. "Isn't home for you out in Saffron? You live there more than you live here. I mean, even when you're not actually _at _university, you still stay there to work. I mean, I'm pretty sure this is the first time you've been home in what…? Almost a year?"

"Yeah, that is true…" Ivy admitted, nodding. "But while I may live out in Saffron more than I live here, I still don't think of Saffron as my _home _home." Ivy clarified. "_This _is my home."

"I don't feel like Pewter is home anymore," Michaela said gruffly.

"Then where is?" Ivy asked, her eyes wide.

"I don't know." She said with a short shrug. "Out on the road, I guess."

Ivy bit her lip. "Well, you know what they say. Home is where the heart is, after all. Home is never a building or a place. Sometimes it's not even about where your friends and family are. It's where you feel happiest and where you feel most comfortable." She paused for a moment. "I think that's why trainers, and students to an extent, yeah…" she added after a moment's consideration. "… are kinda luckier than most people. They have a place out on their own, their independence, their freedom and they feel at home there. And then they can come home, to their family and feel at home there." She then paused, looking a bit confused. "Sorry, I don't even know what I'm talking about…"

"No, no, no… don't apologise." Michaela said slowly. "I get it. I actually get something you're saying… for once."

"Eh?" Ivy murmured. "Well, thanks… I think. I don't really know what I did, but hey, I'll take it…"

It was at that moment that the front door slammed, shattering the calm moment between the two sisters, sending a violent tremor throughout the house. Ivy and Michaela both jumped as the sound of high heels clicked across the floor, and an impossibly skinny figure with a head of brown curls appeared in the doorway.

"Oh great," the figure said as the bag she was carrying clattered loudly to the ground. "What are _you two_ doing home?"

"'Hi Lily-Mae, it's good to see you too. Yes, it _is _nice to be home, thank you for asking'." Michaela deadpanned, shooting her eldest sister a glare. "Jeez, whatever happened to manners? I haven't seen you in almost four months!"

"Well whose fault is that?" Lily-Mae replied tetchily. "You're the one that doesn't call or visit. Half the time we don't even know where you _are. _You worry mum _sick _sometimes."

"Huh?" Michaela asked, her thin eyebrows furrowing together.

"Sure, she never says it, you know what she's like, but she's always worrying about you." Lily-Mae said stonily. "At least Ivy calls whenever she can. But we always know where she _is. _We don't always know where _you _are."

"Uh…" Michaela was looking uncomfortable.

"You know, you should really think more about your family back here." Lily-Mae let out a deep sigh, fixing her eyes firmly on her youngest sister. "You know, it's times like these I almost _agree _with what the government's saying. I almost agree with raising the age so that you have to be a legal adult to train Pokemon. Kids who do Pokemon training don't realise just how tough it is for the families left behind, always worrying and scared for their children's lives."

"I am not a kid!" Michaela said angrily, and for just a moment, Ivy half expected her younger sister to fly out of the chair and throttle her elder sister. However, Michaela let out a deep sigh and seemed to compose herself. "But I think I understand what you mean… both of you, actually," she added, with a nod in Ivy's direction. She sighed again and leaned back in the couch, finally relaxing. "I think I've something." She announced.

"What?" Ivy and Lily-Mae asked in unison.

"I'm not going back out on the road with you, Ivy." Michaela said with a grin.

Ivy's face fell. "You mean you're going back out on your own again?" she asked dejectedly.

"No, I'm not going out _anywhere._ I'm staying here."

"You're staying in Pewter?" Ivy said in wonder.

"I'm staying at _home._"

There was a stunned silence between the three sisters. Michaela was grinning madly in light of her announcement, but Lily-Mae and Ivy were simply shocked. Eventually Lily-Mae seemed to find her voice.

"Great." she said, shaking her head. "I've only just gotten used to a quieter house with the two of you gone and Lewis _finally _settling down, and now what? I try and be a responsible older sister and somehow end up with even _more _people under the roof. And now Lewis is gonna be all excitable and mum and dad are going to be flapping…" she let out a deep sigh. "Nice one, Lily-Mae…"

"Oh shut up, Lily-Mae, you've missed me really," Michaela was grinning wickedly.

"Missed you like a hole in the head…"

"Hey!" Michaela recoiled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

As her older and younger sisters began bickering, Ivy tuned them out, letting their argument wash over her. She remained completely zoned out from her sisters until her mother returned from running errands ten minutes later. Hollie McKenzie screamed in delight at seeing her two younger daughters unexpectedly sitting alongside Lily-Mae in the living room. She immediately fell on her youngest daughter whom she hadn't seen in person since she had left almost four months ago, becoming increasingly emotional the longer she held on to the embarrassed fifteen year old.

Ivy didn't stay much longer, just enough to tell her mother about the progress she had made and then excused herself, remembering she had to meet up with the three boys. She said goodbye to her emotional mother, promised to call when they reached Lavender Town, and exchanged short awkward hugs with her two sisters.

She left the house with a peculiar lump forming in her throat, and the threat of tears forming in her eyes.

As she slowly trudged through the grey suburbs of Pewter City, feeling sorry for herself, she ran into Jack and the Rhodes cousins outside the local Pokemon Mart as they emerged, laden with shopping bags. They stopped in surprise at seeing the young woman.

"I didn't expect you to be back so soon," Sebastian was the first one to speak as they locked eyes across the street. "We were going to go eat."

"That's okay…" Ivy said thickly. "I'll come with."

Noticing the best telltale quiver in his best friend's voice, and the absence of Michaela, Jack was quickly able to put two and two together and figure out what had happened. But still, he wanted to hear it from Ivy herself. "So… where's Michaela?" he attempted to say conversationally.

"She…" Ivy hesitated a moment, before forcefully stretching a smile onto her face and trying to inject a little brightness into her voice. "She's not coming. She's decided to stay at home in Pewter for a little while. I think she might be missing home, so she's gonna stay for a bit. Which… which is good!" she added, nodding vigorously.

Jack nodded too. "Yeah. That is good. For Michaela."

"Y…yeah…" Ivy nodded. "S…so! How…how about that food, huh?"

"Uh, we were just gonna go get pizza…" Jack said, looking at Sebastian and Robert helplessly.

"Pizza? Great!" Ivy said enthusiastically. Too enthusiastically. "I know this _great _little pizza place just up the road from us! Come on, I'll take you! Follow me!"

As Ivy turned on her heel and marched up the road in the direction of the small pizzeria in the city centre, she felt tears prick at her eyes. She was exceedingly thankful the three boys were behind her, unable to see her face. Sebastian glanced at the other two young men, sighed, and began to follow Ivy as she rapidly began disappearing up the road. As they moved away, Robert turned to Jack.

"Does she honestly think she's fooling anyone?"

Jack sighed. "Maybe not fooling us, but I think she's trying to fool herself… Despite what she says, or what she'd like to think, I think Ivy really will miss having her sister around… Especially since they seem to be getting along better now."

"Hmph." Robert muttered. He suddenly looked uncomfortable, like he was internally contemplating something difficult he wanted to say. Eventually he spoke, but his voice caught, almost like he regretted his words as he said them and wanted to claw them back. "I _guess _I know the feeling." He said gruffly. "I've got a younger sister too. But thankfully she's a lot quieter and a lot better behaved than Michaela."

"What? You have a sister? And I thought you said you _liked _Michaela?"

"According to Sebastian, I don't like anyone." Robert said as if that closed the matter. "And yes, I do. Her name's Sophie. She's… she's only five."

"That's… quite an age difference."

"Half-sister." Robert said bluntly. "Dad remarried seven years ago. His new wife's closer to _my _age than his…"

"Ah…" Jack nodded. "I know the feeling. _My _dad remarried too. Course I was only about seven or eight when he did, and she didn't want kids. And I don't really see much of them anymore. Our relationship's not good. Hasn't been since…" he stopped himself, catching what he wanted to say before it came tumbling out. "… well, we just don't get on,"

"Same." Robert said seriously. "The only good thing that ever came out of that marriage for me was Sophie." He suddenly stopped, a mild look of annoyance appearing on his face, as it became clear he had revealed too much. He cleared his throat loudly. "We should catch up to them."

"Yeah…" Jack said, as Robert pushed past him and began following Ivy and Sebastian. "We should."

Their lunch was a subdued affair, even among the cheery and bustling restaurant Ivy had recommended them for dinner, each member of the strange little travelling party lost within their own thoughts as they munched on their respective pizzas. Ivy barely ate half of hers, claiming it was simply too much for her, but the three men knew better. Ivy was an eager eater, sometimes even managing to put away more food than them, despite her delicate, girly appearance. In the end, they decided to divide her leftover pizza among them and didn't pursue the matter.

As they were halfway through the meal, Ivy's phone vibrated with a text from Michaela. She excused herself and slipped away for a moment to read the message in private.

"_I'm not staying away forever. So you better let me know as soon as anything interesting happens. Text me when you reach Lavender. Got it? Don't forget._"

Ivy couldn't help but smile as she finished reading the message. She was surprised however when, as she made to stow her phone away again, it vibrated with another message, yet again from Michaela.

"_And when I see you again, Pokemon battle! Me and you! You're not getting out of it this time. So you better be ready!"_

Then, she was further astonished when her phone vibrated with yet _another _message some ten minutes later, this one from Lily-Mae. Ivy privately felt she had never been as popular with her two sisters than she was today.

"_You're on your own from here, sis. Don't cry, now! You don't have your baby sister looking out for you now. Grow a backbone and stand on your own two feet. Just cos Michaela said she's coming back doesn't mean you should slack off. You're not always gonna have people looking out for you._"

"_What cheery sisters I have_…" Ivy thought to herself as she pocketed her phone again and glanced out the window at the afternoon sky. It was a crisp blue sky with barely a blemish or wisp of cloud. It looked so calm and peaceful and it seemed to soothe Ivy's somewhat agitated spirit. "_But I guess they're right. The easy bit is over now. I have the start of a team. But that's not enough. Now it's my job to train them up right so they'll be strong enough to evolve and help me catch the others._" She looked across at the three young men, noisily chomping down on their various pizzas, and then down at her own that had barely even been touched.

"_It's time to start taking this thing seriously. And taking it seriously means getting to Lavender Town as soon as possible and getting that Cubone._"

She let out a slow, steady sigh.

"_There's nowhere to hide now._"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**And here's another chapter! **

**Unfortunately I don't have much interesting to say, so I'll just take the opportunity to thank all the readers and reviewers, personally, this time :)**

**Sisno2200, a new reader, thanks so much for reviewing and the awesome compliments on the story!**

**TristeWilds, I'm pleased you like Juliet, she is kinda sweet and shy and yes, you were right on the money about Ivy waking up clutching a Beedrill :P**

**I have a dictionary here, I have no idea what it's like to hug a bee, considering I'm that scared of them! If I'd been in Ivy's position, I'd have died on the spot :P**

**MasterFreezeman, I always love getting your reviews in particular cos you're so thorough and comment on everything. Thank you, love *hugs***

**MidsummerMoonlight99, another new reviewer! I am pleased to say there will be a little mini sub-plot kind of thing that I'll be introducing in later chapters just to inject a little more fun into it :)**

**YoungDarkPegasus, well, Kakuna evolved _and _he got a nickname so that should make you doubly happy :D Thanks for the review!**

**Noshadowone, yay for another new reviewer! Thanks for the suggestion on the update, but I had my heart set on the nickname Scorpio just because it seems to suit both the Beedrill and Ivy's thought process!**

**Well, that's it for this chapter! Until next time!**


	14. Snakes On A Plain

**Chapter Fourteen  
><strong>**Snakes on a Plain**

The first two days of travelling passed with little incident. There was a noticeable calm and comfortable air to the travelling party as they progressed through the routes of Kanto under Sebastian's expert lead. Within only a mere few hours, the stony grey suburbs of Pewter City led easily and swiftly on to the hazardous, hilly terrain up to Mt Moon. But distractions led to a wrong turn and the better part of half a day was spent lost inside the many dark and natural chambers cut into the mountain's belly. However, after retracing their steps, they once again found their way, finally emerging into the azure city of Cerulean. The moon was glistening on the darkened water by the time the weary foursome trudged into the city's centre.

Despite the late hour, Ivy seemed reluctant to stop, rest and stay overnight in the city. She was conscious of how much time they had spent simply travelling or training; both vital to her career as a trainer, she knew, but too time-consuming for her personal liking. Almost three weeks had passed, scarily close to a full month of her allotted three month time limit, meaning she was almost a third of the way through. She had two Pokemon out of the six she needed, but they still needed to be evolved. She was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that she had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it with. So, against all common sense she begged the exhausted Rhodes cousins and Jack to keep going, push on down to Saffron and just camp on the road, but Jack firmly put his foot down on that idea, despite Ivy's pleading and whinging.

Under Jack's insistence, the four trainers checked into the Cerulean City Pokemon Centre and after wolfing down a rather late, but hugely satisfying and filling evening meal, they decided to retire to the Pokemon Centre lounge for an hour before heading to bed. Jack found it hilarious that Ivy, after insisting so vehemently that she wasn't tired and could carry on travelling, even throughout checking in to their rooms and the entire of dinner, fell asleep only ten minutes into the eleven o'clock nightly news.

She remained this way until the news bulletins were over and the weather forecast was being broadcast, predicting further sunny days and warm temperatures, much to the delight of Jack and Sebastian, with Robert insisting on remaining nonchalant. Sebastian was the first one to notice the girl fast asleep and curled up at the end of the sofa and couldn't help but smile. The Pokemon Centre was mostly empty bar the friendly Nurse Joy on the night shift, the Chansey assisting her and a handful of other trainers also burning the midnight oil, so it wasn't entirely surprising the young woman had fallen asleep in the relative peace and quiet. After watching her for a few moments, he glanced at Jack, pointing out the sleeping girl.

Jack looked at her in disbelief before chuckling merrily to himself. "Unbelievable…" he said, shaking his head. "She's fallen asleep again."

He then leaned over, lightly lifted her arm up into the air and let go. Her hand thudded back to the sofa, the girl not even reacting throughout the whole operation. Jack sighed again. "Completely dead to the world…"

"Maybe you should wake her up?" Sebastian suggested.

"Are you kidding?" Jack snorted to himself. "Ivy's not pleasant to deal with when she wakes up unexpectedly. I tried waking her up once when we'd first started at university and she almost broke my nose!"

Sebastian's eyes noticeably widened and he edged a little further away from where the slumbering girl was curled up into the sofa. Robert was smirking to himself in amusement at the mental image he had just conjured up.

"What should we do, then?" Sebastian asked, daring to poke the sleeping girl gently. She murmured softly in her sleep at the contact, making Sebastian instinctively finch away. Luckily for Sebastian, she still remained asleep.

Jack sighed, and heaved himself off the sofa. "I guess I'll have to put her to bed, then."

"I can do it, if you'd prefer?" Sebastian offered, but he still looked a little nervous at the prospect, Jack's story about Ivy's semi-conscious wrath all too prominent in his mind.

"No, it's okay." Jack said, reaching down to gather Ivy up in his arms, grunting slightly with the effort. Jack, although very slight and skinny, Ivy affectionately referring to him as a 'beanpole' for his impossibly tall and thin figure, actually hid a deceptive amount of strength behind that fragile-looking frame. "I've done this a fair few times before. Don't want to make you guys do it."

Even despite his worry over Ivy's safety, Sebastian had to laugh as Ivy was scooped, rather haphazardly; he had to admit, into Jack's arms, remaining asleep the whole time. She barely even twitched throughout the whole process. Even as Jack turned around to face the door to the dorms, her legs and arms swinging and dangling uselessly, she didn't even stir.

"Can you manage the door?" Sebastian asked.

"I've managed this up three flights of stairs before." Jack grinned, before adding "Long story, don't ask…" and taking his leave.

He paid no heed to the looks this endeavour was garnering from the other Pokemon trainers still around the Pokemon Centre lobby, and politely declined the help from the helpful Nurse Joy and enthusiastic Chansey assistant that cornered him on the way there. To his credit, he managed the door niftily, but as he exited the room there was an alarming thud. Sebastian winced at the loud bang. He suddenly had visions of Jack whacking Ivy's head off the door frame or something to that extent, but he heard no cries of pain or sleepy protests, so he assumed nothing bad had come of it.

As the door shut behind Jack, Robert let out a haughty sigh. "Honestly. That Ivy's like a baby. And _he's _no better, pandering to her like a mother hen. I'd have just left her where she was if that was me."

Sebastian let out a low, tortured groan. "Compassion fatigue is never going to be a problem for you, is it?"

Robert merely glared, before leaning back in the sofa. A few moments passed until he eventually announced. "I can't wait until all this is over."

Sebastian groaned again "So you keep saying…."

Robert was grumbling angrily under his breath. Sebastian couldn't quite catch everything he was saying, but one sentence stuck out. "I _still _don't understand what we're doing here." Robert remarked darkly.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. "Come on, Robert… they're nice people. They're nice people who need a bit of help."

"You don't put everything on hold in your own life to help out some 'nice people', Sebastian."

"Perhaps you don't, but I do."

"Well, then you're an idiot."

Sebastian's eye twitched. "Robert, I don't want to have this discussion with you," he said, rather hotly. "No-one ever said you _had _to stay. If you're really that unhappy hanging around with me and Jack and Ivy, you can leave. But I want to stay with them."

Robert said nothing.

"You know, I'm really not stopping you from leaving." Sebastian said once again. "You can go any time you want."

Robert was still quiet.

"I don't believe you." Sebastian said with a sigh. "You were the one who first _suggested _tagging along with me to Viridian. I thought getting back on the road was what you _wanted_. I thought you said you wanted to get back out onto the road because living at home again was driving you mad."

"I thought it would be from Vermillion to Viridian and back again." Robert said stiffly. "I didn't imagine we'd end up going to Viridian, hanging around for ages, and then going through Pewter, Cerulean, Saffron, Lavender and Arceus-knows-where else." He let out a sigh. "You're really going to hang around and help them for three months?"

Sebastian sighed. "Robert, I really don't know what to tell you… Like I said, I like them. They're nice people and they needed help. So, why not give it to them? And I consider them friends now. And I'll hang around to help as long as I need to."

Robert said a very rude word. "I still say you have an ulterior motive. Or…" his eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me you've got a soft spot for—"

But it was at that moment that Jack reappeared, throwing himself back into the chair and letting out a deep sigh. Sebastian shot his cousin a warning look, which Robert returned with equal ferocity. Sebastian made a big deal of ignoring this however, and turned to look at Jack.

"You put her to bed?"

"Yeah." Jack nodded, before stretching and yawning loudly. "She's out like a light. I even hit her head off the door and she didn't wake up."

Sebastian winced a little, which Jack noticed and he chuckled good-naturedly, offering an offhand shrug. "It happens all the time," he said with a grin.

A hint of a frown spread on Sebastian's face. "Uhh… I'll take your word for it,"

Jack chuckled again, but very quickly lapsed into silence once again. This silence remained amongst the three young men before Robert, growing steadily more annoyed by the second, finally gave in. He let out a haughty sigh, slid off the couch and grumpily announced he was going to bed. He left, shutting the door to the dorm area with a fierce slam that seemed to shake the entire Centre, leaving Sebastian and Jack alone.

The silence continued awkwardly for another short while, before Sebastian cleared his throat loudly and turned to Jack. "So… have you thought about any other Pokemon you'd want for your team?" he asked casually.

Jack frowned a little. "Not really, no."

Sebastian nodded. "Well, not to sound like a nagging mother, but you really should think about getting some new team members. Phoenix is good, yes, but you won't stand much of a chance against any other opponents with just one Pokemon. And he is just a Pidgey after all. A good Pidgey, but a Pidgey nonetheless."

Jack murmured something noncommittally. Sebastian sensed he may have touched a nerve concerning the young man's great pride in his baby Pidgey and quickly changed the tone of his voice to something lighter and conversational. "You should have a look in and around Cerulean. You can find a lot of promising Pokemon around here."

"Mm…"

Jack's short response made Sebastian grimace, worrying that he had gone too far. However, he continued pushing. "You don't want to…?" he ventured gently.

Jack looked distinctly uncomfortable. "It's… it's not that I don't _want _to." He was choosing his words carefully, stuttering over certain things. "It's just… ah, it's kind of strange, I think. I waited a long time to be a Pokemon trainer. Now that I actually _am _one, I won't lie, it is a bit overwhelming. I'm worried that if I take on new Pokemon I won't give Phoenix or any other ones I have the attention they deserve…"

"I don't think _you _need to worry about that, Jack. You're training to be a teacher, right?"

Jack frowned. "Yeah, but I don't really see what that has to do with it."

Sebastian chuckled. "Pokemon are remarkably like children. Yes they need a lot of attention, yes, they need a lot of love and care, but once they get used to you, they're remarkably self-sufficient. Once they know they're loved and trusted, they'll be just fine."

"Yeah…" Jack said slowly, finding himself nodding. "You're right. Pokemon _are _like children. Then again, Ivy's a big kid herself. Hmm…" he took a moment to consider something, before a wan smile spread over his face. "It seems like I'm doomed to spend my entire life surrounded by children."

Sebastian couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, I could think of worse ways to spend your life,"

"Oh, touché, good sir." Jack laughed, giving Sebastian a friendly shove.

Sebastian shoved back, proving remarkably stronger than Jack anticipated, and he went sprawling backwards, almost falling off the chair in the process. Sebastian laughed good-naturedly as Jack uselessly attempted to right himself. Still chuckling, he offered the young man a hand up and pulled him easily back into an upright position. An uncharacteristic blush tinged Jack's pale skin at the embarrassment and he chuckled nervously, caught completely off-guard and unsure what to do.

Sebastian could only shake his head, laughing weakly. He glanced at the clock, noticing how late it was and grimacing slightly at how the late hour had so suddenly crept up on them. He let out a sigh, and got to his feet. "We should probably go to bed too." He said, decisively, slapping Jack lightly on the shoulder as he passed. "It's late. And we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yeah… another long day. What fun." Jack said flatly.

Sebastian chuckled. "Well, goodnight then." He said, as he began to walk away.

"…'night."

As the door to the Pokemon centre dorms closed firmly shut behind Sebastian, Jack let out a deep sigh as the lobby descended into a faint, muffled silence. He found himself wishing the other young man could have stayed, kept him company, talked into the small hours of the morning. Reluctantly, after a few further minutes of quiet reflection, he pushed himself off the armchair and headed up to bed himself.

The morning came too soon for Jack who struggled all night to sleep, and what few hours he did manage to claw back were fitful and disturbed. To add insult to injury, he was awoken rudely and suddenly by a panicked Ivy who, after waking up with a vicious headache and an alarmingly large lump forming on the back of her head, had somehow convinced herself she had a dangerous tumour growing on her brain. When Jack, roaring with laughter at the girl's suspicions, eventually explained to her what had happened and admitted responsibility, he was angrily chased across the entirety of the Pokemon Centre threatened with varying degrees of violence and bodily harm. This spectacle was witnessed by what felt like the entire Pokemon Centre, causing a lot of excitement and hilarity for the trainers harmlessly watching.

After finally extracting an apology from Jack, on pain of some _very _nasty threats, the two friends went down to breakfast, the whole spectacle from earlier completely disregarded. After a hearty breakfast with the Rhodes cousins, they decided to be on their way as normal. Their next destination was their university city of Saffron andwas also Jack's hometown, and both he and Ivy felt a little strange about returning to the familiar soil. Ivy made it abundantly clear to the others that they were just passing through, expressing no desires to even go near her university until she absolutely had to.

Sebastian merely laughed at this, saying that would be the least of her current worries. Travelling to Saffron would be strenuous, taking a day at the very least to traverse the difficult natural routes. Jack and Ivy had made this journey once before and weren't keen to repeat it, dropping unsubtle hints at the possibility of getting a bus or train, but Sebastian was adamant they would make the walk, insisting that it would do the novice trainers some good. It would also present plenty opportunities for them to look for Pokemon and take on some local trainers, which Sebastian felt could only be advantageous.

Spirits were unusually high for the foursome as they began their long journey to Saffron. Ivy in particular was in a good mood, skipping ahead of the group, the folds of her skirt swishing, her earlier disappointment at having to walk such a long way totally lost when she realised she could release her Pokemon for company and play with them as they travelled. Sebastian and Jack followed along, a good few paces behind Ivy and deep in conversation. Robert trudged way behind, engrossed in a game he was mindlessly playing on his phone, and weaving a rather complicated, ricocheting path as he walked, almost like he was drunk.

"It's funny," Jack said slowly as he saw Ivy giggle and scoop up Juliet in her arms as the Pokemon grew tired from walking and began to whine softly. "For someone who said she'd never have to 'resort' to being a Pokemon trainer, Ivy's taken to it like a Ducklett to water."

"Hey, you took to it pretty well yourself," Sebastian said with a nod. "But I know what you mean. Your Ivy is a pretty strange one."

"Well, she's not _my _Ivy." Jack muttered, looking a little uncomfortable. He let out a sigh. "But it's not just Ivy though. All women are strange, in my opinion..."

"And confusing," Sebastian grinned.

"Got that right," Jack nodded, managing to summon up a genuine smile. "Men make the horrible mistake of thinking women are the same species as us just because they walk upright and talk to us from time to time,"

Sebastian laughed delightedly, while Robert, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, raised his eyebrows behind the game on his phone.

Their walk continued for some time, Ivy gradually pulling farther and farther forward and Robert falling farther back, leaving Sebastian and Jack in the difficult predicament of whether to run to catch up with Ivy and risk losing Robert, or dawdle to let Robert catch up and risk letting Ivy get too far ahead. Eventually, since Robert was more likely to get lost and Ivy would be safe enough considering she had three Pokemon with her, they decided to wait for Robert. Robert, however, didn't much appreciate their kind gestures and merely grunted at them as he caught sight of them, grumpily stating "You didn't have to wait for me. I'm not a child."

Sebastian deflected this smoothly. "I don't let you text and walk for a reason, let alone play games and walk. And I certainly won't leave you alone while you're doing it." He grinned. "Last time I took my eyes off you when you were on that phone and walking you almost ended up under a bus."

Robert's round face flushed. "Shut up!" he hissed, before stuffing the phone in the pocket of his faded blue jeans and stomping forward.

The three young men continued their walk in a comfortable silence for a further few minutes. They had quickened their pace in the hope of catching up with Ivy, but there was still no sign of her.

Until the noise of a high pitched scream reached their ears.

Sebastian's eyes widened. He whipped his head around to look at Jack, who looked horrified, instantly recognising Ivy's scream. Without even a word, Jack suddenly raced off in the direction of the scream. Sebastian hesitated for a few moments before running after him. Robert was the only one who didn't move straight away, instead choosing to let out a deep sigh and mooch after them at his own pace, letting out a groan as he did so. "What is it _now_…?"

As the screaming continued, frantic and terrified, Jack, taking advantage of his long legs easily sprinted ahead forward, putting a remarkable distance between himself and Sebastian who was bringing up the rear. Within moments, he caught sight of Ivy lying in a crumpled heap in a nearby plain framed by only a few trees and bushes; her three Pokemon sprawled on the ground beside her, and a long, thin, serpentine Pokemon slithering towards her. She was screaming, trying desperately to get away from the Pokemon that had her cornered, its jaws open wide.

"Ivy!" Jack yelled, as he juddered to a halt. He lunged for Phoenix's Pokeball and threw it as hard as he could. "Phoenix! Gust!"

As the little Pidgey burst from the Pokeball he let out a high pitched shrieking call, and instantly began whipping up strong winds that he directed straight at the purple serpentine Pokemon. As the winds swept towards the Pokemon, it hissed madly, as if it was trying to intimidate the winds into not howling. Of course, it couldn't and the winds buffeted the snake Pokemon, knocking it back a few feet and sending it a much safer distance from Ivy. However the attack barely seemed to impact it, as it righted itself almost immediately, snapping its jaws together angrily.

"Ekansssssss!"

Jack didn't falter. "Phoenix, Quick Attack!"

No sooner had Jack given his Pokemon the order, Phoenix dove into a Quick Attack, shooting towards the Ekans like a bullet with almost unbelievable speed. It slammed into the purple snake with surprising force, making the Pokemon recoil angrily, hissing in pain. It didn't however stop the Ekans from snapping brutally at Phoenix as it soared above its head after executing the attack.

At this point, Ivy pushed herself weakly up onto her hands and knees. She had only barely registered Jack's presence and subsequently gasped when she saw Phoenix dive towards the Ekans once again, only narrowing missing being caught in the snake's massive jaws as it lunged for him. Panicked, she looked at her own Pokemon. Toni and Juliet were completely unconscious, but as she looked at Scorpio, he had buzzed back into the air again, looking only mildly dazed. She staggered to her feet and ordered Scorpio to help Jack and Phoenix.

Scorpio shot towards the Ekans, who was shooting barrages of Poison Stings at the tiny Pidgey, making it squawk in fright and flap around uselessly in the air trying to evade them. In a spectacular display, Scorpio sailed straight through the Poison Stings, delivering a vicious onslaught of attacks with his massive stingers. This unexpected attack took both Jack and Ivy by complete surprise and they gawped open-mouthed throughout the whole execution.

"When did Scorpio learn _that_?" Jack gasped in surprise as the Ekans hissed in pain, backing off.

"I don't know!" Ivy cried, flummoxed.

But their shock cost them dearly. That one moment of hesitation caused by their surprise from the attack proved fatal. Phoenix and Scorpio floated idly nearby as their stunned trainers could only gawp, unable to deliver instructions, making them sitting targets. Seeing the two flying Pokemon not even moving and sensing an opportunity, the Ekans flung itself at them. Phoenix screeched, managing to flap out of the way in a puff of feathers, but Scorpio wasn't so lucky. The Ekans threw itself into the air, collided with the Beedrill, and coiled its thin body around Scorpio's fragile frame. It began to squeeze tightly, Scorpio buzzing in alarm and trying to wriggle free, but it was useless. Scorpio was totally trapped!

"Scorpio!" Ivy screeched in fright as the Ekans continued to squeeze harder and harder, the Beedrill buzzing frantically. Scorpio was completely incapable of movement, let alone escape and it only served to make Ivy panic more.

Jack swore violently. "It's using Wrap!" he cried, whipping his head up to look at Phoenix. "Come on, Phoenix! Quick Attack!"

Ivy dared to hope that Phoenix's Quick Attack would work, somehow cause the Ekans enough pain to release Scorpio, but no sooner had Phoenix dove into a Quick Attack, the Ekans opened its mouth wide and shot another Poison Sting! The poisonous barbs embedded in the Pidgey's plumage, making the Pokemon squeal in pain and drop to the ground. Completely grounded, he could do nothing but writh around, cheeping weakly, the poisonous darts leaking venom all over his feathers.

"Phoenix, no!" Jack cried out.

While Jack was panicked, Ivy was practically hysterical. She had no idea what to do! She fought desperately to calm down, grasp what was going on and try to come to terms with the situation. Her Beedrill was caught in the vice-like grip of the Ekans, slowly being squeezed tighter and tighter, Scorpio too weak to even fight against it any longer. Phoenix was still grounded and barely moving, feebly trying to pluck the poisoned darts from his underbelly, but not succeeding. She glanced back at Toni and Juliet and was dismayed to see they were still completely unconscious. Completely at a loss at what she could do or how to save the situation, she did the only thing she could think of.

"Jack, what are we gonna do?" she shrieked.

But Jack was merely standing there. He looked totally helpless and could only return Ivy a blank stare. It was clear he had no better idea of what to do than Ivy did…

And just when the two novice trainers didn't think it could get any worse, the Ekans suddenly began hissing again, even more madly than before. It unwrapped itself from Scorpio, the unconscious wasp crumbling into a heap on the ground. The Ekans shot forward, lunging for the grounded Pidgey instead. The tiny Pidgey didn't even see its attacker coming until it was too late. Within seconds, the Ekans opened its massive jaws and bit Phoenix, scooping the tiny bird into its mouth! It drew itself up to its impressive full height, still holding the Pidgey aloft.

"Jack!" Ivy screeched in terror. "Ekans _eat _Pidgey! Do something!"

As if angered by Ivy's yells, the Ekans bit down harder on the tiny bird. The Pidgey shrieked in pain as the jaws penetrated its fragile body, making Ivy cry out in horror. She whipped around to look at Jack, desperate to see him do something, but he was standing there, looking absolutely horrified.

"Phoenix…" he whispered.

And then the Ekans bit down again, making the Pidgey scream with pain.

"Phoenix!" Jack cried out again, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. His body itched to step in, but a strange numbness had taken him over and he found he couldn't move any of his limbs. Only his eyes seemed to be working, his brain was barely responding and any action he wanted to do simply wouldn't happen.

But then…

"Skarmory! Go!"

A streak of brilliant silver suddenly flashed across Ivy and Jack's vision making both novice trainers cry out in shock. The silver blur was revealed to be Sebastian's Skarmory and it crashed into the Ekans, sending the serpentine Pokemon tumbling backwards. As it was knocked back, Phoenix flew from the Ekans' grip, landing safely a good few feet away.

"Phoenix!" Jack yelled.

But then something unbelievable happened. As the weakened Pidgey lay there, barely even moving, it suddenly became enveloped in a bright white light.

Jack stopped completely in his tracks, the tears he was fighting so hard to keep back suddenly spilling over his cheeks. "Pho…Phoenix…?" he croaked.

Phoenix's little body; now glowing with a brilliant white light, suddenly began to shift and change, like something unseen was sculpting and moulding his features. The change was subtle at first, but soon Phoenix's figure grew bigger and wider, his wingspan stretching, his tiny feet elongating, his tail fanning out and lengthening. With a sudden, ear-splitting caw the white light dissipated, revealing a Pidgeotto standing proudly where a Pidgey had once been lying in a heap.

"Oh my God!" Jack cried out, the tears still spilling over his face. "Phoenix!"

As the newly evolved Pidgeotto stretched his wings, determination was shining in his beady eyes as it looked at the Ekans struggling to get up a few feet away. Sebastian let out a low whistle, his Skarmory suddenly flapping away from the Ekans.

"It's your battle… if you want it." Sebastian said by way of explanation when Jack turned a confused, tear-streaked face towards him.

"Ph…Phoenix?" Jack swallowed, looking towards his newly evolved Pidgeotto. "You want to keep battling?"

"Pidgeotto!" Phoenix cawed.

At the noise of his Pokemon's confident cries, a wide beaming grin touched on Jack's Pokemon. "Alright! Quick Attack!"

The Pokemon lifted into the air, flapping its new, strong, powerful wings. It hovered in the air only briefly before rocketing towards the Ekans, slamming straight into the serpentine Pokemon. Jack let out a cry of surprise as the Ekans was knocked back, barely even able to comprehend the sheer power behind his newly evolved Pokemon's attacks. As the Ekans tumbled backwards, it hissed weakly before collapsing, completely out of it.

Ivy let out a sigh of relief and dropped to her knees, inclining her head and seizing tufts of grass between her fingers, pulling on them hard until she almost uprooted them. Jack was trembling all over as his Pidgeotto dropped to the ground. Then his eyes touched on the unconscious Ekans lying only a few feet away from him.

A strange thought invaded Jack's head and he was immediately reminded of what he and Sebastian had discussed the previous night. "_That's one hell of a strong Pokemon. I know it attacked Phoenix… but Sebastian was right. I need more Pokemon. Strong Pokemon. And I don't think they come much stronger in the wild than that one…"_

Before he knew what he was doing, he was unhooking a Pokeball from his belt. He threw it towards the Ekans and as it bounced off the unconscious body, Jack let out a deep sigh. The Pokeball rolled once, twice, three times before sealing shut with a _ding_!

Ivy whipped her head up at the sound of the sealed Pokeball. "J…Jack?" she said in confusion.

However, at that moment, Jack didn't care about what Ivy was saying to him. He didn't care about the sealed Pokeball only a few feet away from him. He didn't even care about the fact he was getting so emotional in front of so many people. He disregarded everything, ignored everything else, and instead chose to sprint right up to Phoenix, drop to his knees and throw his arms around the newly evolved Pidgeotto.

"Jack!" Ivy cried as her friend's shoulders began shaking.

Ivy had a strong suspicion that her best friend had just burst into tears, and her automatic instinct at seeing him upset was simply to run up to him and attempt to comfort him. But no sooner had she leapt to her feet and taken a step forward, Sebastian put his hand out to stop her. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Ivy understood, nodded and held back, giving Jack his space.

Jack was holding tightly onto Phoenix, burying his face into his Pidgeotto's soft feathers. Phoenix was trilling and cooing softly as Jack held him tight, his shoulders trembling and the tears still flowing.

"I'm sorry…" Jack murmured. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm sorry you had to suffer like that. I'm so sorry I let you down…"

"Pidgeotto…" Phoenix trilled.

Phoenix seemed to have an oddly optimistic tone to his cheeps and caws, and Ivy privately thought that Phoenix seemed to be telling Jack off for getting so emotional and she had to stifle a little giggle, even despite the seriousness of the situation.

"I won't let that happen to you again." Jack vowed, finally lifting his head from his Pokemon and stroking him softly.

Phoenix flapped his wings happily and let out a cheerful caw.

Jack managed to smile, and he sniffed and wiped his eyes, before looking up to see Sebastian and Ivy watching him. A flush tinted his cheeks as he realised the two of them had seen everything that had just happened. Ivy in particular was a bit taken aback. In the two years she had known her innately serious friend, she'd never even seen him so much as offer a smile when it wasn't warranted. She'd never seen him cry, or even get angry or frustrated even when the situation called for it in the two years she'd known him. But in the three weeks they had been Pokemon trainers, she had seen him angry, frustrated, tearful, laughing, and now teary. She almost couldn't believe it. She had seen Jack display more emotion in the past three weeks than he had in the past two _years._

It was at that point that Robert reappeared. As he surveyed the sight in front of him, he let out a tortured sigh. Ivy looked shaken, her three Pokemon unconscious, Sebastian's Skarmory was released and preening its feathers, looking bored, and finally, a tearful Jack was clinging onto a Pidgeotto he had never seen before like it was his last tie to the world.

"Honestly." He said with a sigh as he looked down upon the situation in front of him. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes without you getting yourselves into trouble, can I…?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Aaaand it's another chapter where not very much happens! **

**I don't really have too much to say for this one, apart from that it took me AGES. I seriously hurt my back some days ago and it's made sitting over a laptop excruciatingly painful, so I apologise for the delay and all that. **

**Thanks to my readers and reviewers, noshadowone, Guest, YoungDarkPegasus, TristeWilds and The Neverending Meep.**

**Oh, in regard to Guest's review, I've considered what you've said about the fic feeling a little 'domestic' and I do agree with you there. I'm the first to admit that not a lot is happening in terms of action, but I'm pleased to announce that I've managed to work in a little foreshadowing to the side-plot to come in a couple chapters ahead, so do watch out for that. **

**Incidentally, I would like to say that this story _will_ come across as lighter and not as emotionally deep as my other fics, simply because there isn't a big massive major plot as in the case of Spirited and Free Spirits. I just wanted to try something a little different. So all I can do is ask that you just take it for what it is and enjoy the story! :D**

**So yeah, that's it! Please read and review!**


	15. Secrets and Lies

**Chapter Fifteen  
><strong>**Secrets and Lies**

As night fell on the long, exhausting road to the familiar haunt of Saffron City, the travelling party decided it was time to stop and rest. They had been travelling for what felt like hours and after the incident with the Ekans, Jack in particular was physically and mentally drained and in need of a good night's sleep. As they found a place to crash, Sebastian was glad that it was a warm night, meaning there was no need to build a fire, which would take both time and effort to make and sustain. Time and effort that the four exhausted trainers simply weren't willing to invest. Instead they simply threw down their backpacks and sleeping bags wherever there was room and ate whatever cold food they could scrounge from their bags. The mood was slightly solemn as they ate while the darkness rolled in. They stifled yawns, but no-one spoke.

The silence eventually began to unnerve Sebastian, and he cleared his throat loudly. "Well, this is the quietest we've been all day!" he announced, trying to inject cheer into his voice.

His efforts for conversation went basically ignored. Ivy was exhausted by this point, barely even awake, limply holding onto a half eaten piece of bread, her eyes lidded. "So tired…" she said weakly, looking like she was about drop at any second.

Jack seemed distracted. He was clutching tightly onto the Pokeball that held his newly caught Ekans, his knuckles white, almost like they were going to burst right out of his skin. The newly evolved Phoenix was out of his Pokeball, curled up next to Jack, fast asleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. The Pokemon looked totally at peace, but Jack kept shooting worried glances at him, like he was afraid he was randomly going to disappear from his sight. It was only after a few minutes of heavy silence that Jack seemed to even recognise someone had even spoken. "S…sorry." He muttered, not really meeting Sebastian's eye. "I'm a bit… distracted."

Sebastian nodded in acknowledgement. He couldn't blame the other young man for being so distant. He had nearly almost lost his Pidgey earlier in the day, after all. A traumatising, deeply upsetting event, that was for sure. It was inevitable, really, to have a Pokemon in serious danger of its life at some time or another. It was also inevitable that one day in the future, a trainer would _lose_ a Pokemon too. As much as Sebastian hated to think about it, he knew it was true. The death of a Pokemon, a trusted friend and partner, would affect every trainer one day. It was an experience every trainer would have to go through. It was a pain Sebastian knew all too well, and he was glad that Jack didn't have to experience it just yet. It was something Sebastian could never wish on anyone; regardless of how much he disliked the individual. He would never wish the death of a Pokemon, a friend, on someone, even if they were his worst enemy…

Letting out a sigh at the macabre thoughts that had invaded his head, Sebastian turned to look at Robert as a last hope for conversation. His cousin met his eye only briefly, scowled and pointedly looked away. Sebastian grimaced. "_Like getting blood from a stone…_" he thought darkly.

A further fifteen minutes passed in silence, before Ivy eventually gave up, took a blanket, completely ignored her sleeping bag and curled up into a tiny ball underneath the thin fabric. She was asleep within minutes, soft murmuring coming from her slumbering figure. After seeing Ivy fall asleep, Robert got to his feet and dragged his sleeping bag into a secluded spot away from the other three. He went silent a few minutes later, evidently asleep, leaving a despondent Jack and a rather uncomfortable Sebastian alone.

A few moments of awkward silence passed before Sebastian dared to speak again. He looked at the Pokeball Jack was still squeezing, thinking it was as good a conversational starter as any. He cleared his throat again. "So…" he said, as lightly as he could muster. "How's your new Ekans?"

"Kaa."

Sebastian blinked, floundering at the one word Jack had said, wondering if he had just heard right. "I, uhh… I beg your pardon?"

Jack was looking a little sheepish. "Kaa." He repeated. "That's the Ekans's name. I, uhh… used to be obsessed with _The Jungle Book _when I was a kid. It was all I could think of," he added, looking almost apologetic.

"I see," Sebastian said, a small smile escaping him at this revelation. "Well, how is Kaa?"

Jack bit his lip, glancing momentarily at the Pokeball he was still holding. "He's alright, I guess." He said, rather limply.

Sebastian immediately realised what was bothering Jack. For a moment, he deliberated if he should even press the issue. "Still worried over what happened to Phoenix?" he ventured after a moment's hesitation.

Jack looked up, fixing Sebastian with a curious stare. "How'd you know?"

Sebastian grinned at the other man's puzzlement. "You might be nowhere near as transparent as Ivy, Jack, but I'd like to think I'm a good people reader."

Jack flushed, looking a bit embarrassed. He looked away for a few moments, before sighing and running a hand through his spiky blonde hair, making it stand on end. "It just… it just… caught me off guard, I guess. Kaa was vicious. I'd never seen a Pokemon _that _violent before. I mean… I was worried. Ivy told me that Ekans can… _eat _Pidgey…" he said the word with a violent shudder. "I thought… I thought I might end up losing Phoenix." He admitted, his voice thick.

Sebastian knew all too well the emotions the other young man was experiencing and he was sympathetic. "Unfortunately a lot of wild Pokemon are just that. Wild." he said with a mild sigh. "Violent, unpredictable, sometimes they seem completely incapable of being trained sometimes. Thankfully, nine times out of ten those Pokemon will calm down after being caught and after being shown a bit of structure and discipline. However you can also get Pokemon that are naturally that little bit outspoken and bolshy… Take Toni for example."

"The Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey…" Jack managed to chuckle.

"Yeah," Sebastian was grinning too. "Remember I was telling you Pokemon are just like children? You're training to be a teacher, Jack, you know how kids are. Some respond straight away to discipline, some don't, and some are kind of in the middle. Rarely it's an innate badness to them, it's just their personality. Pokemon are just the same, they're just like people. They all have their unique personalities. And just like you wouldn't give up on a kid because you have a bit of trouble with them to start off with, or because they're a little outspoken, you wouldn't give up on a Pokemon either. You just gotta accept them for who and what they are, just like people."

Jack had been nodding the whole way through Sebastian's speech. He was staring at Kaa's Pokeball intently now, like he was trying to learn its curves, contours and feeling off by heart. He swallowed deeply. "I guess you're right." He said, raising his head to meet Sebastian's gaze. "You… you really care about that sort of thing, huh?" he attempted to say casually, but he wasn't sure he had been successful in coming across as nonchalant.

"I've seen way too many abused Pokemon to _not _care." Sebastian said with a saddened sigh.

Jack frowned. "Abused Pokemon?"

It was a concept Jack wasn't totally unfamiliar with. He had seen many adverts on television in regard to the subject, and he was the first to admit that the idea that someone could do that to a Pokemon was completely and utterly horrifying. He had remembered there had been a big media interest in Pokemon abuse in the build up and aftermath of the government's decision to raise the legal Pokemon training age, but after everything died down and the controversies and protests ceased, the issue had simply seemed to fizzle out.

Sebastian was nodding. "Yeah. I took a break from Pokemon training some years ago, worked in an abandoned and abused Pokemon shelter for six months." He dropped his gaze down, looking saddened. "I saw a lot of nasty cases there…"

Jack looked horrified at the sheer thought, his mind suddenly awash with horrific images of these 'nasty cases' Sebastian had mentioned. "I thought Pokemon abuse was rare…"

"Not as rare as you may think." Sebastian said with a heavy sigh. "Rogue trainers are bad offenders in particular. I once heard about a case of a rouge trainer from Pallet Town who abused his Mareep so badly he almost _killed _it."

"Killed it?!" Jack said in shock.

"Yeah. It almost didn't make it through the night." Sebastian was shaking his head again, pinching the bridge of his long nose fiercely. "The Mareep became totally distrustful. Shocked anyone who came within six feet of it. Thankfully it was given to another trainer and, last I heard, it was doing just fine." He ran a hand through his long red hair. "I saw pictures of that poor thing after it had been attacked... I've never seen abuse like it…"

"I can't believe anyone would beat and abuse their own Pokemon…" Jack said hoarsely, looking at his peacefully sleeping Pidgeotto, his heart twisting.

"I can, unfortunately…" Sebastian said solemnly. "Nine times out of ten, abuse cases happen because the trainers can't handle the personalities of the Pokemon. Most trainers expect Pokemon to be obedient and listen straight away. That's not always the case. Some Pokemon won't obey their trainers if they don't have reason to respect them or trust them. And that can frustrate beginner trainers, regardless of the age, whether they're ten, fifteen, twenty, whatever. And if it goes on long enough, it can lead to abuse."

Jack couldn't say anything at this point.

"So, I guess what I'm trying to say to you, Jack…" Sebastian was trying to instil a little more light-heartedness into his voice. "Don't be afraid of Kaa just because he might seem a little difficult to control. If you discipline and raise him right, you'll be okay. But don't expect him to be perfect either." He paused. "No Pokemon is innately bad. Pokemon only become bad because of bad actions done to them. And I'd hate to see your Ekans end up the same way as that Mareep I saw five years ago."

"It won't," Jack vowed. "I won't let it."

Sebastian smiled. "Good." He then let out a short chuckle. "Whoa, that got a little heavy, huh? Not sure it's good bedtime conversation, but hey."

Jack chuckled back. "No, it's all right. Gave me something to think about."

Sebastian was grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. "Yeah, but here I am getting all emotional about abused Pokemon… guess it's not the most macho thing in the world."

"I've never been much of a macho guy myself," Jack admitted, without meaning to and he wished he could have slapped his hand over his mouth as the admission slipped out.

He looked across at Sebastian, suddenly afraid that the other man would laugh at him or mock him for what he had just said. However, Sebastian merely smiled, leant across and slapped Jack good-naturedly on his shoulder. Jack looked at the other man in mild shock, before Sebastian drew away.

"Well, I don't know about you, but all that heavy conversation's got me quite tired. I'm going to sleep now," he said. "Goodnight, Jack."

Jack was momentarily silent as Sebastian moved away. He heard Sebastian shuffle around in the darkness, laying out blankets and climbing into his sleeping bag, but it wasn't until everything fell silent that Jack finally trusted himself to speak. "…night…" he eventually replied into the still darkness.

Sighing slightly as no-one answered, Jack simply rolled over where he sat, pulling a blanket over him in the process. He reached out one last time to touch the bristly feathers of Phoenix, as if verifying his Pokemon was still real, and still there, before eventually settling down. On the other end of the campsite, Sebastian tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, his mind swimming with the thoughts of what he had just explained to Jack. Eventually, both young men fell asleep.

The morning came too soon for the four trainers, and after a quick, and rather unsatisfying cold breakfast, the sleepy travelling party was on the road once again. Progress was slower, but spirits were comparably higher, and the journey was conducted with hefty doses of laughter and friendly banter. The route into Saffron City was surprisingly busy, heaving with trainers both experienced, inexperienced, and middle-of-the-road. Sebastian good-naturedly responded to every challenge he was faced with, and beat every single one with a well-practiced ease, looking like it was barely even an effort for him. Robert on the other hand completely ignored other trainers, whilst Jack and Ivy were far pickier and choosier about their opponents, being careful to only battle people they were sure they could win against.

Sebastian monitored each and every battle the two novice trainers participated in simply out of curiosity, and as the battles continued, he found himself smiling. They were improving. He had to admit, he was impressed with the way Jack handled Phoenix, the Pidgeotto once again proving itself an extremely competent battler. Furthermore, after a shaky start with Kaa, Jack also showed himself capable of dealing with an entirely new Pokemon and battle strategy exceptionally well, he reckoned.

Ivy was developing her skills well too, though not as well as Jack, Sebastian privately felt. Scorpio the Beedrill seemed to have improved tenfold since evolving and was a valuable asset, even though the Poison Sting and Fury Attack moves Ivy relied on were basic at best. Toni the Pidgey, although a bit reluctant to listen at first and still not showing any sign of the move Gust, was also a competent fighter, if a little too enthusiastic at times. Juliet was more difficult, still terrified at any opponent whether they were big or small, a threat or a pushover, but she had developed a strong Double-Kick after some intensive training with Ivy and was even beginning to win some battles, a change which Ivy welcomed with enthusiastic cheer.

It was evening by the time the weary foursome trudged into the familiar surroundings of Saffron City. As Ivy breathed in the familiar city scent and took in the sights of such a bustling and busy urban life, she felt happy and comfortable. The whole place was such a hive of activity and noise, even at a later hour and she felt energised simply being there. A satisfied smile broke over her face as she took in the city skyline.

"Saffron City at last!" she cried exuberantly.

Jack nodded, also smiling. "It's nice to be home."

A thought struck Ivy as Jack spoke. While Ivy only lived in Saffron because she attended university here, Jack had grown up in Saffron all his life. His mother lived here, as did his father and his stepmother. But while his mother lived in a tiny, two-bedroom flat in the centre of town, his father was much better off, living in a huge house in the richer suburbs in the farther end of the city. Ivy looked up to her friend, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention. "You want to stop and see your family?"

Jack looked down at Ivy, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "What? Why would I want to do that?"

"Uh, cos they're your family?" she said, giving Jack a slight push.

"But I thought you said you didn't want to hang around Saffron any longer than you needed to, Ivy?" Jack grinned, giving Ivy a slight push back.

"I… I don't…" she admitted. "But we stopped to see _my _family in Pewter _and _we had my sister following us around for ages. It only seems fair that we stop off to see your family too. It has been a while since you saw them, right?"

"The old man's a waste of space as far as I'm concerned," Jack said with an idle shrug.

"Well, what about your mum?" Ivy asked, knowing full well the close bond Jack shared with his mother. "You haven't seen her in a while. Wait, she _does _know you're out on a journey, right?"

"Oh, don't be so silly, Ivy. Of course she knows." Jack said primly, before softening and placing a reassuring hand on Ivy's arm. "It's alright." He told her. "We shouldn't stop, we need to keep going."

Sebastian was nodding. "Jack is right," he told Ivy gently.

Ivy sighed and eventually gave in. "So… what's the plan?" she asked.

Sebastian shrugged a little. "I guess we stay here overnight and carry on to Lavender in the morning."

As Sebastian spoke, Ivy struggled to stifle a yawn. "Yeah…" she murmured. "That sounds like a good idea."

That night, as Ivy climbed into the lumpy Pokemon Centre bed, she had to admit that she was becoming quite excited at the prospect of reaching Lavender Town. The possibility of finding and catching the Cubone that she so desperately needed for her course was prominent in her mind, fuelling her body with so much excitement that she wanted to just throw back the covers of her bed, run to Lavender by herself and begin her search right there and then. Having that Cubone would mean she would be in possession of three out of the six Pokemon that she needed after only a month had passed, which would relieve some of the pressure she was under for completing the list. She was daring to feel a little confident now as she dropped off to sleep, knowing that by the end of the following day, she would be in Lavender and could begin her search for the Cubone.

They set off bright and early in the morning. Ivy's spirits and energy levels were high, and her sunny disposition couldn't fail to put a smile on Sebastian's face and even inject a little cheer to a once again serious Jack's disposition as they walked. They reached their destination of Lavender Town under Sebastian's guide earlier than anticipated. It was approaching evening by the time they reached the tiny town, but everyone had remained in relatively good spirits despite the aching muscles they had developed over the days of walking. As they relaxed and strolled into Lavender at any easy pace, Ivy was quite stunned at the quietness and sparseness of the town, completely unused to a place with no big buildings, blocks of flats or busy roads. But while she was quite taken with the little place, Sebastian had noticed something worrying as they reached the quiet centre of town.

There was a massively tall building in the distance that Sebastian didn't recognise and which stood in place where he had expected Pokemon Tower to be. Sebastian swallowed nervously, trying to figure out what was going on. "_What is that…? That shouldn't be there…_" he thought in shock as he looked at the modern towering building above him, casting a gloomy shadow onto the sleepy surroundings of Lavender. He turned around to look at the other three following him. "Hey… that building… What _is _that?"

Ivy and Jack stared up at the building, looking about as flummoxed as Sebastian felt at the stark contrast of modernism juxtaposed in the sleepy, traditional suburbs of Lavender. They shook their heads, unable to answer. However, while Jack, Ivy and Sebastian were puzzled, Robert was smiling deviously to himself.

"And if that's there, where's Pokemon Tower?!" Sebastian cried, panicked.

Ivy looked at Jack in confusion, before looking back at Sebastian. "Pokemon… what?" she asked, rather uncertainly.

"Pokemon Tower!" Sebastian exclaimed, sounding panicked as he rounded on Jack and Ivy. "It's a tower that was built in honour of Pokemon that passed away… but… it's not there! It's not there and _that _thing, whatever it is, is in its place!"

Robert had been chuckling to himself the whole time through Sebastian's panicked cries and it was only now that Sebastian seemed to notice this. His eyes wide behind the fronds of red hair splayed haphazardly over his pale forehead, he turned on his cousin. "Robert! What _is _that thing?!"

"That's Lavender's Radio Tower." Robert said matter-of-factly.

"Radio Tower?" Sebastian said shrilly. "When—?! Where—?! How?! Where did that come from?!"

"They built it quite a few years ago."

"What?! Well, how come I never heard about it?!"

Jack and Ivy had no clue as to why Sebastian was behaving so strangely and looking so panicked at the existence of this so-called radio tower. Privately, they had no idea why Sebastian was so hysterical; however, they knew interrupting to ask about what was happening was a bad idea, so they merely stayed quiet.

"It happened while we were away in Johto." Robert explained patiently.

"What…?!" Sebastian looked horrified. "But… my Pokedex… my Pokedex _told _me that Pokemon Tower was still around! Where's it gone?! Where'd they put all the graves?! And more importantly, where are we gonna find a Cubone now?!"

Robert was sniggering now, while Ivy's jaw was hanging open. She'd be lying if she said she completely understood what was going on, but she couldn't mistake what Sebastian had just said. For whatever reason, the insinuation of not getting a Cubone was now hanging thick in the air, and it had caused Ivy's palms to suddenly become sweaty, her mouth to run dry and a sense of panic set in.

"Robert!" Sebastian pleaded, and Jack detected a slight harshness to his tone that he'd never heard before. "What on earth happened?"

Robert was still chuckling. "Maybe you should try actually _updating _your Pokedex, Sebastian."

Sebastian was frowning. "What?"

"Updates for the Pokedex." Robert nodded. "You know? Those updates you can download to your Pokedex? You get updated maps, Pokemon information, evolution lists… Maybe if you actually updated your Pokedex when it told you to you wouldn't be in this mess. Actually, I don't even think that would help…"

"What?"

"Your Pokedex is defunct, Sebastian. It works, yes, but with all the information it doesn't have, it may as well just _not _work. Come on, it _is_ ten years old! I don't even think _updating _it anymore will help. You need a new one."

"So wait… my Pokedex… it's _broken_?!"

"Essentially."

"And you knew that Pokemon Tower had been replaced with this… radio tower… thing?!"

"Yes."

"And you didn't _tell _me?! Tell any of us?!"

Ivy and Jack now couldn't fail to identify Sebastian's displeasure. His face was twisted in anger and his fists were clenched, fixing his older cousin with such a look of contempt that it could probably have turned Robert to stone had Sebastian simply put his mind to it. Ivy winced as she looked at Robert, who merely shrugged in reply.

"Robert! Why didn't you _tell _me about this?" Sebastian demanded once again.

Robert just shrugged again, folding his arms idly. "I wanted to see how long it would take you to figure it out."

Jack and Ivy still remained fairly clueless as to why Sebastian had become so angry. All they could surmise was that Robert had kept something from Sebastian which they guessed could jeopardise Ivy getting a Cubone, but that was it. However, while they didn't quite understand exactly _why _Sebastian was so angry, there was no disputing just how furious the normally mild-mannered young man had become! Neither Jack nor Ivy had ever seen Sebastian so angry! They didn't even think Sebastian was _capable _of being this angry.

"You idiot! Are you mad?!" Sebastian exploded. "Did you not _think_?! Did you not even _consider _how this will impact all of us?! Affect all of us but _especially _Ivy?! She's on a time limit, Robert! And you've let us believe all this time that we can get a Cubone here?!"

Robert had gone quiet, but he was fixing his cousin with a cold glare.

"Robert! Can you at least answer me this? _Can _we even get a Cubone here?"

"No." Robert shook his head quite firmly. "When Pokemon Tower was demolished, they moved all the graves somewhere underground. And before you ask, I don't know where they ended up. And when they moved the graves, the Cubone seemed to disappear right along with them."

"Then where—?!"

"Easy!" Robert intercepted coolly. "I'm not stupid, Sebastian. Even I'm not that much of a bastard that I'll disadvantage her…" he eyed Ivy pointedly. "…for my own amusement. You can find Cubone in Rock Tunnel, just north of here."

Ivy, who had been fighting to conceal her panic, the only thing she was able to deduce from the cousins' argument the possibility that she wouldn't be able to get her Cubone, found herself heaving a sigh of relief at what Robert had just said. But while it had appeased Ivy, and Jack to an extent, it only seemed to anger Sebastian further.

"So what?" he raged. "That makes it alright, does it? That makes it alright to lie to me and deceive me?! Lie to all of us?!"

"I never lied outright. I just… didn't exactly tell you the truth."

Ivy and Jack looked at each other in mild amusement, sharing exactly the same thought recognising their inside joke and managing to grin at each other despite the seriousness of the situation. However, somehow Robert's admission seemed to only make Sebastian angrier.

"Robert, you idiot!" Sebastian fumed, throwing his hands up in anguish. "You've gone too far this time! I… I can't even look at you right now!" he yelled, before turning on his heel and storming off.

"H…hey!" Ivy cried as Sebastian rapidly began disappearing from their sights. "Sebastian! Don't—! Where are you going?"

"Ivy!" Jack called out warningly as Ivy suddenly ran off after Sebastian. "Don't follow him! Leave him alone! Ivy! Get back here!" his protests fizzled away uselessly as Ivy too rapidly disappeared.

"Oh, let her go." Robert said, letting out a deep sigh and running a hand impatiently through his cropped black hair. "At least she can't do any damage. Well, so long as he doesn't shout at _her._"

"You think he will?"

"I don't know!" Robert snapped, before exhaling deeply and seeming to compose himself a little. When he spoke, his voice was noticeably more restrained and he even sounded a little regretful. "He shouldn't. _She's _not the one who got him angry… I was…"

Jack squirmed a little, feeling uncomfortable. "I… I don't get it. What got him so angry?"

"It doesn't matter," Robert said, sitting down heavily on a nearby bench and collapsing into a slouch.

"Yeah, it does." Jack said, sitting down next to him. "He's angry. I've never seen Sebastian so angry. I never thought he _could _get angry."

"Believe me; Sebastian's got a temper…" Robert said gruffly. "He's just a lot better at keeping it under control than I am."

Jack nodded slowly. He wasn't quite sure what to make of what Robert had just told him, so he simply nodded, wanting to move the conversation along to what he really wanted to know. He decided to simply forgo the subtlety for once.

"So… so what happened?" he asked as bluntly as he could manage.

Robert sighed. He was also beginning to look distinctly uncomfortable. "Ivy needs a Cubone, right?"

"Yeah…?" Jack replied warily.

"And Sebastian said you could get Cubone here, right? Here in Lavender?"

"Yeah, I remember him saying." Jack nodded.

Robert nodded. "Yes. Well, you actually can't get Cubone in Lavender Town anymore."

"You can't?!"

"No." Robert shook his head. "You _could. _You could get them here a few years , Lavender Town used to have this thing called Pokemon Tower where people would bury their deceased Pokemon. Of course, that meant that Pokemon Tower was one of the rare few places you could find Ghost Pokemon. Cubone were common around here too because the criminal gang called Team Rocket, I'm sure you've heard of them, once killed a Marowak in Pokemon Tower, so the family of Cubone it left behind would always hang around. Almost as if they were waiting for their mother to come back…"

"Oh my God, that's awful…" Jack murmured.

"Yeah… it was…" Robert said, his eyes suddenly looking glassy. "But all of a sudden, a few years ago, they tore down the Pokemon Tower and moved all the graves away underground and they built that radio tower in its place. So, of course, all the Cubone moved away after a couple of years. Rumours say they settled in Rock Tunnel, just north of here."

"Okay, that I can understand, but… what about all that stuff about the Pokedex?"

"Sebastian's Pokedex is an old model. Almost eleven years old." Robert explained. "He's had it since he first became a trainer, and those things are meant to be updated regularly with new information on Pokemon and new town maps. Sebastian never bothered. So, when Pokemon Tower was replaced and the Radio tower was built in its place, Sebastian never got the updated map. We were away in Johto at the time too, so we never heard about it. I never thought he'd need to know. And then this happened…" he said bitterly.

Jack was finally beginning to understand, and he now realised exactly why Sebastian had been so angry. "So when Ivy needed a Cubone and Sebastian thought we'd get them in Pokemon Tower…"

"Yeah, I still didn't say anything. Sebastian's Pokedex is basically broken and I've known it's been broken for a long time. To be honest, it's been quite funny seeing him so confused and oblivious as to what's going on when he's scanning Pokemon for information or getting lost when he relies on the map instead of just winging it. I was going to say something because even I'm not that cruel to disadvantage Ivy to laugh at Sebastian, but then I remembered Rock Tunnel is nearby to Lavender Town and they say you can find Cubone in the Rock Tunnel. So I just thought no harm, no foul. We're still close enough to get a Cubone. I don't really know why he's so angry…"

"I don't even think it's what you did; I think it's the principle…" Jack said slowly. "I think he's angrier that you lied to him than anything else…"

Robert grunted.

"You should apologise to him…" Jack prompted gently.

Robert scoffed. "I'm not apologising to him _now_." He said firmly. "He'll kill me if I even so much as look at him right now." He sighed, drawing his eyes across to the Lavender Town Pokemon Centre that Sebastian had long since disappeared into, Ivy nervously bringing up the rear. "Just hope he doesn't yell at Ivy… for once, it wasn't her fault."

Jack couldn't help but smile. How unsual it was for Robert to actually show some consideration and concern, but seeing it sent in Ivy's direction was something that he had never expected to see. This rare display of humanity coupled with the sliver of insight about his personal life when he talked about his sister was really making Jack see Robert in a different light, even in the aftermath of such an admittedly nasty action. "See, you're not as much of a bastard as you say you are."

Robert simply shot Jack a confused look.

"What?" Jack said, shrugging slightly. "Robert, you may be a bit of a… of a…"

"An arse?"

Robert's blunt answer made Jack chuckle, and Robert blinked in surprise to see the innately serious trainee teacher actually laugh. "What?" he frowned, beginning to sound irritated.

"Oh, nothing." Jack smiled, shaking his head. "You come across as an arse, Robert, yeah, but you're a nice guy underneath all that dry wit and sarcasm, aren't you?"

Robert grimaced. "A nice guy? First time anyone's ever called me that…" he frowned. "I'm not a nice guy, not really. Not like Sebastian. Look up 'nice guy' in a dictionary and there'll be a picture of him there, I swear. He's your textbook guy-next-door you read about in those stupid romance novels. Always nice to everyone, regardless of who they are or how long he's known them."

"I noticed." Jack nodded. "Not many people would drop everything to help out two strangers they'd never met. Ivy and I owe him, and you, a lot."

"Hmph." Robert huffed. "Thank Sebastian, not me. It was his idea."

Jack smiled. "You're a hard nut to crack, aren't you? I'm not a psychotherapist, you know? My expertise is with children and… Ivy." He added, after a moment's hesitation. "I'm not that good with people my own age…"

"Ivy's your own age." Robert pointed out.

"She's different." Jack said at once. "Plus, she's got the mental age of a child." He added with a grin, before the cheerful expression slowly slipped from his face. "I'm serious for a reason. I don't know how to react to people my own age. People never liked me or accepted me much." He admitted, wringing his hands together nervously. "But Ivy… Ivy's different though. She's never cared about… labels, or the stigmas that go along with them. You… you can say a lot about Ivy, about her being ditzy or stupid or annoying, but she's accepting of everyone… regardless of who or what they are."

Robert was frowning. "Jack… I don't mean anything rude here, but _what_ are you talking about?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter. I digress." Jack said lightly, realising he had gone off on a tangent. "We're not meant to be talking about me after all, Robert. We're meant to be talking about you. So, man-to-man… wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," Robert said defiantly, standing up. "I'm going for a walk. Man-to-man, respect the fact I want to be alone, alright?"

Jack wanted to call Robert back, but thought better of it, slumping back into his seat. "Alright…" he said slowly, letting out a sigh as Robert's silhouette disappeared from his sight."_God…_" he thought as he looked around his darkened surroundings. "_There really is more to people than meets the eye, isn't there_?"

And with that, he stood up and also embarked on a walk, hoping it would clear his head.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**A long chapter, I know… And a delayed one at that… Sorry guys, updates are probably gonna be a bit slower for the next week as I have a lot of family commitments to deal with at the moment. **

**Master's Degree hit a hundred reviews, which I am SO happy about! Thank you so much guys! Particular thanks go to Following Padfoot's Pawprints, MidsummerMoonlight99, japaneserockergirl, musa lover, TCo Black Roses, Shadow Serenity 57 and Manser77. You guys are awesome!**

**Until next time, everyone! **


	16. Heartfelt

**Chapter Sixteen  
><strong>**Heartfelt**

Ivy gingerly pushed open the Pokemon Centre doors and looked around the small and rather sparse lobby that she was faced with. She glanced around for a few moments before eventually picking out the tell-tale red head of Sebastian sitting on the tiny sofa that was sat at a jaunty diagonal angle towards the small television set. He was sitting perfectly still and rigid and it made her very nervous. She swallowed, moistoned her dry, chapped lips and summoned what little courage she had, and began making her way towards the sofa, ignoring the curious stares of the other trainers that she passed.

"Sebastian..." She ventured softly as she rounded on him. "Are you alright?"

Sebastian said nothing. His eyes were fixed firmly on the television set and he didn't even seem to as much as even register that there was someone speaking to him. She bit her lip. She wasn't used to seeing the easy-going Sebastian on edge like this. She didn't like it one bit. Unsure what else to do or say, she perched on the edge of the sofa. She glanced up at the television and saw two people standing up on a giant stage, illuminated by a backdrop of sparkling lights, grandeur and glorious spectacle. One, a young man with long shaggy black hair which was pulled back into a loose ponytail, dressed in an almost immaculate black suit, and the other, a teenager that looked no older than Ivy, in a stunning strapless sea green dress. As Ivy watched, the camera panned out to show that the two people were standing in a giant stadium, framed by stands upon stands of people all cheering and clapping, camera flashes sparkling like stars along the crowd. A judge's table was positioned directly across from the stage, where an older, balding man and two women in extravagant dresses and thick makeup were sternly surveying the goings on from the stage.

At that moment, the older man with the shaggy hair pulled out a Pokeball that was white all over with specks of gold. He tossed it forward and with a plume of green, brown and golden leaves, a Bellossom burst out. It landed delicately before pulling off a graceful twirl, its tiny hips shimmying, before twisting its body into a perfectly poised arabesque. The camera zoomed in on the girl's face to show her smirking as she looked at her opponent, before she too pulled out a Pokeball, this one decorated with bold stripes of red, black and white. Her Pokemon was a stunning looking Beautifly that soared from her Pokeball in a cloud of glimmering golden dust that sparkled like precious jewels as the particles were illuminated by the studio lights.

Ivy glanced at Sebastian. He looked totally engrossed in whatever it was that was on the television. "What are you watching?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Contest." Sebastian said blandly.

"Contest?" Ivy was puzzled.

"Yeah. Two co-ordinators instead of two trainers."

"So, this isn't battling?" Ivy said, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

"Not really." Sebastian shook his head. "Co-ordinators participate in contest battles, which are totally different. They battle, yes, in quite a traditional way, but their prime priority isn't battling to hurt the other Pokemon, it's to show off their moves, skills and beauty."

"Kinda like a pageant for Pokemon?"

Sebastian chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that."

"Oh..." Ivy said with a nod. "I think I remember seeing something about it on the television once."

"Mm." Sebastian said slowly, before sitting back and crossing his legs. "I'm quite interested to see this battle. It's the Kanto championship battle. Winner of this goes on to participate and battle in the World Championships. It's a big, big event in the contest battling world. Especially since these guys are really well known celebrities..."

"Celebrities?"

"Yeah. That's Christian Hart and that's Isabella Garcia." He said, pointing them out in turn. "They're some of Kanto's finest co-ordinators. There was a big outrage when these two were drawn to battle each other in the final... Cos the other representative from Kanto that got through to the World's is basically unknown, and took out another really prolific co-ordinator."

"But surely so long as the Kanto representatives are strong and one of them wins at the championships, surely it shouldn't matter?"

"It shouldn't, no." Sebastian said with a shake of his head. "The contest world is different to the battling world, though. It's all dependent on status and celebrity. People think it's all glitz and glamour, and to an extent it _is_ but there's a dark side to it too. It can be quite corrupt... Lots of allegations of match fixing, too."

"I see," Ivy said, even though she didn't really. "Who do you want to win?"

Sebastian considered her question momentarily. "I like Izzy Garcia better, but I think Hart's got the advantage. He's something else..."

"Hmm..." Ivy murmured non-commitally, now eager to move the subject away from contests and co-ordinators and back to what she originally wanted to talk about. "Umm... Sebastian...? Are you...?"

"I'm fine." He said at once.

Ivy winced a little at his sharp tone. "Are you really, though?"

Sebastian was frowning deeply and he seemed to be determined to conduct a stony silence. "...I am annoyed," he eventually relinquished. "I can't believe he'd do that..."

"But it's okay, isn't it?" Ivy asked softly. "It doesn't matter about the Cubone. He said we can get them in Rock Tunnel..."

"That's not the point!" Sebastian snapped, making Ivy visibly jump.

Instantly, his face softened when he saw the look of horror momentarily flash over Ivy's face. He automatically wanted to reach out to Ivy, but he found he couldn't quite do it. "Ivy... I'm sorry..."

"No, it's okay..." She said at once. "Just... I want you to be alright."

Sebastian sighed and ran a hand through his long red hair. "I just can't believe he lied to me..." He said, sounding bitter.

"I know." Ivy said, putting her hand softly on Sebastian's arm. "It was a pretty nasty thing to do."

"Yeah." He said with a deep exhale. "He's my cousin and I'm supposed to get on with him. But he absolutely drives me mad at times!" He said this last bit with a dry laugh.

"No-one's ever said you _have_ to get on with him all the time..."

"I know, but still... He's so moody and angry and... Idiotic at times! I can't believe I'm related to him sometimes."

"You're talking to the girl with two annoying sisters and one pest of a brother. I know how that feels." Ivy joked.

Sebastian only looked at her and sighed once again. Ivy bit her lip, feeling a bit distressed at seeing Sebastian like this. She wished she could just make it better by saying something eloquent and inspired, like a speech the hero of a blockbuster movie would come up with, but she knew that wasn't likely to happen...

At a loss for words, she eventually suggested "Try talking to him?"

"Won't help." Sebastian said bluntly. "He needs some serious sense knocked into him."

"You two should have a Pokemon battle, then!" Ivy cried out exuberantly, grabbing one of her own Pokeballs and thrusting it into the air happily.

Sebastian's eyebrows furrowed together. "I think that would make things worse..."

"Yeah. Maybe." Ivy said despondently, returning the ball to her belt.

Sebastian sighed again, running his hand through the fronds of his red hair. "It'll be alright in the end," he said dismissively. "It always is. I guess I'll talk to him about it later. Right now I just can't face him."

"I can understand that, I guess." Ivy nodded.

Sebastian grunted and said nothing more, refocusing his attention on the contest battle now blaring over the television. Christian Hart's Bellossom was spinning gracefully over the stage, clouds of glittering dust circling around it as it glided back and forth in a manner that reminded her of a professional ice skater. Isabella Garcia was looking frustrated, a fierce frown eroding her pale face as she shouted commands to her Beautifly, which was ensnared in the clouds of dust, now incapable of movement.

Ivy swallowed and bit her lip. It was clear she was getting no further conversation out of Sebastian. She slowly slid herself off the sofa. "I guess I'll leave you to watch your contest, then..."

Sebastian murmured something unintelligible as Ivy left.

She stepped out into the cool evening air of Lavender Town and fought back a shiver. She looked around for any signs of Jack or Robert, but the few people milling around the Pokemon Centre and local mart just down the road were unfamiliar to her. She began walking aimlessly, in any direction she fancied, keeping her eyes peeled for the familiar blonde head of her best friend or the cropped black hair that was synonymous with Robert. She saw neither as she wandered around the sparse and empty surroundings of Lavender.

She had no idea how long or how far she walked for, and she didn't even notice as the village-like area melted away once again into endless grass and greenery, before developing into rocky and stony outcrops. A mountain rose majestically in front of her and as she got closer, she picked out a tiny opening in the rock face.

"I wonder..." She said out loud. "Is that... Rock Tunnel?"

She remembered Robert had mentioned something about finding Cubone in Rock Tunnel, and as this memory returned to her, she delved into her bag and pulled out the remaining two spare Pokeballs she had left. Smiling to herself, she began walking forward towards the mouth of the cave. She was entertaining a childish idea that if she found and caught a Cubone by herself, it would completely fix the horrible situation that had flared up between the two cousins. Reasoning if she could just find a Cubone by herself, she could fix everything and it wouldn't matter that Robert had lied or that Sebastian was angry. If she could just come home with a Cubone, the Rhodes cousins could just bury the hatchet and forget there was ever an issue.

However, as she ventured into the cave, she became aware of one major problem. The place was completely dark. She could see nothing; not even a hand in front of her face. The evening light from outside barely even impacted on the sea of blackness and she made her way cautiously through the inky dark. But she had barely manoeuvred herself a few paces in before her foot came into sharp contact with something on the ground, she felt her whole body jerk off balance and she went flying forwards. She shrieked, threw her hands forward and slammed straight onto the gravely dirt. Her hands stung and she wiped them impatiently on her dress before staggering to her feet again.

"Where's Sebastian's Exeggutor when you need it...?" She groaned, burying her stinging hands in her armpits in an attempt to lessen the pain.

She took another few steps forward, this time feeling around a lot more carefully in case of any further accidents. Everything was still pitch black, and when she turned around experimentally, she could no longer see the mouth of the cave. She swore.

All common sense told her that it was a bad idea to keep going. The place was totally dark and she couldn't even see the way out any longer. But still, every time she thought of this, she remembered how angry Sebastian had been because of Robert's lies. She felt oddly responsible for what had happened between the cousins and now felt it was up to her to remedy all the trouble she had caused.

"Come on, Ivy." She told herself firmly. "Get a grip."

She moved forward again and walked in the empty abyss for a further five minutes before a noise coming from behind her caught her off guard and startling her. She whipped around immediately, groping uselessly in the blackness. She then froze as the noise came again. After a few moments of intense panic, she finally realised it was nothing more than the noise of rocks harmlessly crumbling to the ground. She let out a sigh of relief, turned around and continued walking.

Until she collided with something tall and impossibly bulky.

And the thing was breathing.

She froze as soon as her body came into contact with the hard, bulky silhouette. For one mad, panicked moment, she thought if she remained still and silent that it would somehow be okay, that she wouldn't even be noticed. But all of a sudden, the thing in front of her let out a bellowing roar so strong she felt like she was being buffeted in the face with a powerful gale force wind. She let out a scream that likely could have shattered glass, turned on her heel and began to run.

She had hoped that she would be able to get away without any problems, but it became scarily evident that whatever that thing was, it was following her. Loud, booming footfalls were echoing and reverberating all around her as she ran, pushing her body and limbs until they screamed with pain. Panic had made her blind and she simply ran, completely unsure as to where she was going, her instinct simply to get away and get to safety. Eventually she noticed a tiny pinprick of light in the distance, and trying to keep herself calm, pushed herself further. Another vicious roar sounded out behind her, and she fought back another scream as she eventually tore out of the cave and emerged back into the comforting orange and red hue of the evening sun. She glanced back only momentarily at the mouth of the cave, her heart beating so furiously in her chest she thought it could beat right out, before turning around and sprinting back to the Pokemon Centre.

Still in the clutches of panic, she glanced around the more-or-less empty lobby, desperate to see someone she knew, some familiar, comforting face. Thankfully it was at that moment that the door to the dorms suddenly opened and the familiar blonde head of Jack came out. He was already in his pyjamas and was clutching some coins, evidently heading to the vending machine for some late night snacks. His rather glazed eyes suddenly became alert as he looked at his panicked friend who was panting heavily and looking suspiciously like she had been dragged through a hedge backwards.

"Ivy, what are you-?"

"Don't ever go in Rock Tunnel!" She screeched.

"What? Why?" Jack said in astonishment. "Why were you even IN Rock Tunnel in the first place?"

"I wanted to go in to find a Cubone!" She cried, her words crashing into each other almost like an unintelligible babble. "I thought if I went looking for one and got one then it would put an end to all the problems between Robert and Sebastian!"

Jack blinked. "But...?"

"But there's a monster in Rock Tunnel!"

"What?" Sebastian said, looking weary.

"A monster!" She exclaimed hysterically. "It was huge! Right there in Rock Tunnel! I bumped straight into it!"

"Alright..." Jack said slowly. "Ever thought it could just be a Pokemon?"

"Well, yeah!" She said, resisting the urge to reach out and throttle her best friend. "That's obvious! But whatever it was, it was huge! It was bigger than me! And it was roaring! It chased me too!"

Even Jack couldn't fail to be alarmed at this revelation. "Are you alright?" He asked at once.

"Well, I'm here aren't I?"

"Not what I asked," he said, reaching out and flicking her nose with his long fingers. "I asked if you were okay."

"My heart's going a mile a minute, but I think I'm okay," she said with a nod. "But I am _never _going back in Rock Tunnel again. Never! Who knows what could be in there?"

"Oh, Ivy..." Jack said, shaking his head. "Go to bed, girl, okay?"

"But what about Sebastian and Robert?" Ivy protested at once.

"They'll be fine." Jack said firmly. "You, go to bed. We're in room 21A. Here's the key," he added, pressing the small key into Ivy's palm.

'But-!'

"Bed!" Jack barked one last time.

Ivy glared, but Jack, who was used to all manner of glares and filthy looks seemed practically immune to what she was trying to do. Eventually, she let out an exasperated sigh, knowing she wouldn't be getting her own way. "Alright, fine..." She relented. "I'll go to bed."

"Good girl," Jack nodded, patting her on the head. He paused only momentarily. "Don't worry, okay? Things will be fine."

"Easy for you to say," Ivy said with a sigh, but all the time, she did as she was told and reluctantly made her way up to bed.

The night passed slowly for Ivy, who was plagued by constant nightmares over her encounter with the thing in Rock Tunnel. As she awoke that morning, feeling like she'd barely had a minute of sleep, she wanted nothing more than to cuddle under the duvet and never come out again. Jack eventually persuaded her to get up, and the two of them made their way down to breakfast. As they entered the rather quiet communal canteen, both young adults were surprised to see the two Rhodes cousins sitting at a table waiting for them. They were both wearing identical stony looks and were sitting diagonally across from each other, refusing to make eye contact. Jack and Icy exchanged nervous looks before sitting down, Ivy perching next to Robert and Jack sliding in next to Sebastian.

"Good morning," Jack said cheerfully, almost like he was greeting a class full of children.

"Good morning." Sebastian said bluntly.

Robert merely grunted.

With both cousins seeming disinterested in conversation, Jack gathered toast and cereal as normal for his breakfast and began to eat, also pretending to be inherently fascinated by the label on the jam jar. Ivy on the other hand was far more agitated, incapable of eating or even sitting still. The tension around the table lay heavy in the air, slowly driving her mad. She bit her lip nervously, desperately searching for a topic of conversation, growing more and more agitated by the second. She eventually snapped and cried "I almost got attacked in Rock Tunnel last night!"

At that point, Jack choked and almost spat out the glass of orange juice he was drinking. Sebastian turned a shocked face to Ivy, but it was Robert that spoke first.

"Ivy! You went into Rock Tunnel? Alone?!"

Ivy looked astonished. "Umm... Yeah?"

"You shouldn't have done that!" Robert barked at once. "It's dangerous to go in there alone!"

"I found that out the hard way..." Ivy murmured. "There was something in that Rock Tunnel..."

"What?"

"I don't know..." Ivy admitted. "But it was huge! And it chased after me..."

"It chased you?!" Robert looked unusually alarmed, his eyes wide.

"Y-yeah..."

"And you got away okay?"

"Well obviously Robert, else she wouldn't be here, would she?" Sebastian said darkly.

"This is serious, Sebastian." Robert said firmly. "Rock Tunnel is dangerous. Ivy shouldn't have gone in there alone. What on earth possessed you to go in there?"

Ivy looked quite ashamed. "I... I wanted to get a Cubone..."

"A Cubone...?" Sebastian said slowly.

"Y... Yeah..." Ivy murmured. "Robert said you could get Cubone in Rock Tunnel, so... I wanted to try and get one. Cos I didn't want you to fight anymore."

Both Robert and Sebastian frowned.

"I thought if I could get a Cubone, it would stop you two from fighting..." Ivy murmured, looking sheepishly at the ground.

Sebastian looked like he'd been slapped in the face. "You thought if you got a Cubone it would stop us fighting?"

"Yeah, I did." Ivy said, looking down at the floor. "I hated seeing you guys fighting like that..."

"Ivy, we weren't really fighting..."

"Weren't you?" Ivy demanded of the cousins at once. "It looked that way to me! And I don't want to see you fighting..."

"Oh, Ivy..." Sebastian reached out and patted her a little awkwardly on the shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to see us fight. Robert _was _a bit of an idiot..." He chuckled.

"Hey!" Robert said indignantly.

"...but I shouldn't have overreacted." Sebastian added, looking back at Robert pointedly. He caught Ivy's gaze and firmly held it. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah..." Robert said gruffly. "I'm...sorry too,"

"You are?" Ivy looked up, eyes wide.

Robert grunted. "Yeah..." He said, looking uncomfortable.

"Not to rain on your parade here," Jack intercepted. "But shouldn't you guys be apologising to each _other _rather than Ivy?"

Sebastian looked a little perplexed, like that whole concept had just occurred to him, while Robert merely chuckled. "I don't really do apologies. At least not twice in one day; I think it might make me ill." He stated, but he was smiling, a feat in itself which made Sebastian think he was worthy of forgiveness.

"Oh..." Jack said, looking a little disappointed.

"It's alright, Jack." Sebastian cut in with a smile.

"If you say so," Jack shrugged, going back to his breakfast. While his face portrayed no emotion as it normally did, he was secretly very glad to see the tension between the two cousins simply evaporate before his eyes.

With a far more comfortable atmosphere around them, they continued breakfast in silence for a few moments, before Robert spoke again. "Ivy?"

Ivy looked up in sheer astonishment at being addressed by Robert. "Yeah?"

"You still want to go looking for Cubone?"

"Of course!" Ivy said at once. "But..." She murmured, looking uncomfortable. "I'm kinda a bit scared about going in there again..."

"Yeah, didn't you say you never wanted to go back in there again?" Jack asked.

"Y...yeah." She nodded, looking away, biting her lip.

"That's alright." Robert said at once. "I'll go with you."

There was a stunned silence around the breakfast table. Instantly, Sebastian reached out and slapped his hand on his cousin's forehead.

"The hell are you doing?" Robert asked irately, flapping his cousin away.

"Checking to see you haven't got a temperature!" Sebastian joked. "You feeling alright, there?"

"I'm feeling fine, thank you." Robert said primly.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"So why are you all of a sudden volunteering to take Ivy to Rock Tunnel?"

"Never you mind," Robert said firmly.

"Aww," Jack, seeing an opportunity for teasing, jumped right in. "Looks like Robert has a heart instead of that old brick I thought he carried around."

"Robert has a heart! Robert has a heart!" Sebastian said in a sing-song voice, before he and Jack collapsed into girly giggles around the table.

Ivy sat there, completely overwhelmed at the madness that had just descended and cast a helpless look in Robert's direction. Robert said nothing, shook his head and continued eating the little breakfast he had left.

But while Jack and Sebastian roared with laughter and Ivy sat there dumbfounded, hidden by the piece of toast he raised to his mouth, Robert smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**And here's a Master's Degree update :D**

**Well, I know not too much has been happening lately, but next chapter will be good as Robert and Ivy go Cubone hunting and we'll start to get the first inkling of a little subplot, hopefully :P**

**Thanks to everyone who picked up on my little reference last chapter :) there was another one here I hope you all got :D**

**Special thanks to all my reviewers!**

**MidsummerMoonlight99, yes, I'm having a lot of fun with expanding on Robert's character this chapter and last :) He needs some screen time :)**

**MasterFreezeman, yay, you reviewed again! *hugs* And of course that's a Jungle Book reference, you know how much I love Disney *shot* Also, I love how you go off on such tangents on your reviews, they're so funny to read :) Thanks for the review, love :P**

**Japaneserockergirl, there will be some more insight into Jack's past eventually :) thanks for reviewing!**

**Following Padfoot's Pawprints, no problem! Aww, I'm so happy you're enjoying the story :D**

**Shadow Serenity 57, I'd almost forgotten about it too until one of my friends pointed it out! Thank God, otherwise I'd have had a very large plothole! Cubone-hunting will commence next chapter :)**

**The Neverending Meep, nope, couldn't resist :P and yeah, I am delving into the characters more, as always. I need to get some action going! :P **

**So, thanks everyone for reviewing! See you next time :D**


	17. An Unlikely Duo

**Chapter Seventeen**

**An Unlikely Duo**

Under the stifling heat of the midday sun, a wholly perplexed and restless Ivy found herself standing outside the mouth of the Rock Tunnel, Robert standing calmly a few paces away from her. Ivy was trembling a little in worried anticipation at the thought of what was ahead of her, feeling tense and apprehensive to be entering Rock Tunnel again. Robert however, seemed nonchalant as he always did and just the sheer sight of his composed demeanour made Ivy feel even more anxious, the memories of his outburst over breakfast still alarmingly fresh in her mind. For a trainer as strong and powerful as Robert to be concerned about something dangerous in Rock Tunnel, she knew he _must _be serious, even if he wasn't currently betraying any emotion.

She took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, but her mind wouldn't be stilled. Standing outside the towering and intimidating mouth of Rock Tunnel with the knowledge that something very dangerous was lurking in there made her wish, and not for the first time that morning, that Sebastian and Jack would be accompanying them. Not just for the extra protection that Sebastian could provide, and that special brand of reassurance that only Jack could give, but because she was still inherently nervous of being alone with Robert. Although she felt she knew the young man well enough now, she still remained unsure if she had even warmed remotely to him, let alone trust him enough in such a risky situation. She found herself cursing Sebastian's decision to go and order an, albeit much-needed, new Pokedex at the local Pokemart and Jack's decision to head south from Lavender to test out Kaa and Phoenix on some local trainers. She wasn't entirely comfortable being alone with Robert and she let out a juddering sigh into the silence, finding a little shiver tremble over her spine despite the pleasant afternoon heat.

Eventually, Ivy summoned enough courage to speak, the silence finally getting the better of her. "R…Robert?"

"What?" Robert replied curtly.

Ivy winced at his tone, mentally kicking herself for daring to hope that Robert's good mood and that tiny little glimpse of humanity he had demonstrated earlier would have stuck around. She swallowed back her nerves and pushed forward her question all the same. "What… what exactly is in Rock Tunnel?"

"Cubone, hopefully." Robert replied flatly.

Ivy grimaced. "That's… that's not what I meant. What's the _dangerous _thing in there?"

There was a long silence. Ivy wished Robert didn't have his back to her; she wanted to see his face in the hope of more accurately judging what was going on with him. He spoke after a few moments, his voice still rather monotonous. "You don't want to know," he stated, quite bluntly.

"Yes, I do!" she said at once.

"Ivy, you're the girl who got scared by a group of Pidgey," Robert deadpanned as he turned around, his tiny eyes narrowing even further. "If I tell you what's in there, you won't _want _to go in there."

"It wasn't _just_ me who was scared of the Pidgey," Ivy muttered traitorously. "Sebastian was too…"

"Whatever," Robert said, shrugging his shoulders stiffly.

"So, you're not gonna tell me?"

"No."

"Why not!?"

"Because you won't go in there."

"But I _need _to go in there!" Ivy wheedled, fighting the urge to stamp her foot. "And I'd rather know what I was up against!"

"Even if you knew what you were up against, it wouldn't make the difference. I'm the one who's gonna be fighting it off."

Ivy let out an exasperated moan. "Robert! Tell me!"

"No," he said, quite firmly. "Your pleading and badgering may work with Jack, but not with me."

Ivy floundered for a moment, trying to think of some witty retort to respond with. After a few minutes, it was evident she couldn't come up with anything and instead resorted to simply saying "You're so mean!"

"I've been called worse." He deflected expertly and with another casual shrug. "Now, are you coming?"

"Huh?" Ivy asked dumbly, having been momentarily distracted at the side of a flock of Pidgeotto flying overhead.

"I swear," Robert muttered darkly under his breath. "Are you _coming_?" he repeated, sounding agitated and with an impatient wave of his hand. "You know, into Rock Tunnel? You want that Cubone or not?"

"Ah… of course…"

She trotted up to stand next to Robert and looked up to him inquisitively. She licked her lips and then tilted her head slightly to one side in a manner that reminded Robert of a baby Growlithe. "Robert, can I ask you a question?"

"Ugh," Robert said, looking back at Ivy and grimacing as if he was in pain. "I hate that…"

Ivy frowned. "Huh? Hate what?"

"'Can I ask you a question?'" Robert quoted. "But that already _is _a question. So what you really want to say is 'Can I ask you _two _questions?'"

Ivy blinked slowly, not getting it. "Wha…?"

"Oh never _mind._"

Ivy looked back at him dumbly, completely oblivious, before pressing on regardless. "You think we will find that Cubone?"

"Well, we'll have to, won't we? Otherwise it won't be looking good for you,"

Ivy recoiled a little, not liking his blunt and to-the-point replies. "That's… not the answer I was hoping for," she admitted nervously.

"I'm not here to please you, Ivy. I'm here to be truthful."

"And… protect me from whatever's in there? R…right?"

Robert rolled his eyes. "Oh, I suppose so," he muttered under his breath, before quickly becoming official again. "Come on. We should get going."

And with that, he swept past Ivy and headed towards the mouth of Rock Tunnel, unearthing a powerful torch from somewhere deep within his bag and switching it on as he began walking. Ivy squeaked as he moved away and quickly followed suit in fear of being left behind. As they were enveloped into the shadowy darkness like they had just been draped in a thick cloak, Ivy was glad of the strong beam of light from the torch. It sent a powerful golden illumination bouncing off the cave walls and the two young adults were able to travel comfortably, avoiding many hidden potholes and loose rocks that would have otherwise tripped them up.

They walked in silence for some time. Although Robert moved swiftly and calmly through the shadowy tunnels and giving the impression nothing was wrong, he was alert all the time, his eyes scrutinising every inch and detail of the surroundings he could pick out. He swung the powerful beam of light back and forth, his ears keenly tuned into every footstep and noise that echoed around them. He would never admit to Ivy, who was following along quickly and nervously, that he also was a little fearful of what he knew to lurk within the depths of the Rock Tunnel. He hoped that they would be able to find what they came in for and get out as quickly and painlessly as humanly possible.

"Where are all the Cubone...?" Ivy ventured after a solid ten minutes of walking.

"Quiet!" Robert hissed in indignation at the sudden invasion of Ivy's alarmingly loud voice.

Ivy squeaked out a soft apology before asking again, this time managing to lower her voice.

"They'll likely be further in," Robert said decisively, also keeping his voice down to a low whisper. "They're shy Pokemon and quite rare. We need to be very quiet." He said the last bit pointedly, glaring at Ivy in the hope she would take his hint.

"Sorry!" Ivy whispered. "I… I'll be quiet."

But seconds later, despite her resolve to be quiet, she couldn't help but speak up again. "Are you ever gonna tell me what's in here?"

Robert let out a haughty sigh. "Ivy..." He said warningly.

"It can't be that bad! S...surely?" She asked, her voice trailing away as she remembered the terrifying silhouette of whatever it was that had attacked her the previous day. She shuddered violently as she remembered how it had given chase relentlessly, her palms grew sweaty and her heart began to beat fast in her chest again.

"Just... just pray we don't run into it again..." Robert said, swinging the torch around to illuminate a small clearing they had just entered. "Hmm... Which way...?" He mused out loud, looking down the two separate tunnels facing them.

"Left?" Ivy suggested.

Robert rolled his eyes at Ivy's proposition and replied by immediately stalking down the tunnel to the right. Ivy blinked in confusion as Robert moved away, ignoring what she had said. "_I thought I said left…?"_ she thought to herself. "Ah, he must not have heard me," She decided, before quickly jogging behind him to catch up.

They progressed steadily deeper, Robert keeping himself a steady few paces ahead of Ivy the whole time. While Ivy was quite glad of not coming across any Pokemon the further they delved into the tunnel, Robert was becoming increasingly concerned by this. There wasn't even so much as a single Zubat, a common sight in caves and tunnels. He bit his lip with worry. He didn't like this. Normally places like the Rock Tunnel would be overrun with irritating pests like Zubat and whatever other Pokemon were native to them, so the notion of something as vast and sprawling as Rock Tunnel being devoid of any life whatsoever had sent alarm bells ringing at the back of his mind.

"_What's going on_…?" he thought to himself, drawing the torch beam across the surrounding tunnel walls, his eyes peeled for anything that would indicate Pokemon had been through there recently. "_Where are the Pokemon…_?"

They stepped out into another chamber, this one huge with a towering, curved alcove and which branched into several further smaller tunnels. As they entered the new chamber, Robert caught the noise of a low, deep grunt coming from somewhere to their left. He froze and then caught sight of a huge, lumbering, shadowy form lurking at the mouth of the tunnel to the extreme left. He swore, caught off guard at the presence of the figure, and as he spoke, the silhouette suddenly twitched violently. Robert flashed the torch upwards and, bathed in the blindingly bright light, Ivy finally recognised what was standing only metres away from her. It was a Kangaskhan.

"A Kangaskhan...?" Ivy murmured in confusion, feeling distinctly under-whelmed by what she was seeing.

But Robert was looking horrified and his hand instantly flew to the Pokeballs at his waist. "Ivy..." He said cautiously, his voice tinged with an uncharacteristic stroke of panic. "Listen to me. If I tell you to run, you run. You got that?"

"But it's just a Kangaskhan!" Ivy cried. "They're supposed to be kind and gentle in the wild, aren't they? They're mothers!"

"Ivy, look again!" Robert cried out, bringing the torch down so that the beam illuminated the lower half of the Kangaskhan's body.

Ivy wasn't at all sure of what she was looking for at first that would give Robert such a cause for panic, but a shock of horrified realisation shot through her when her eyes finally touched upon the Kangaskhan's pouch.

There was no baby Kangaskhan.

"Ivy, run!"

Ivy barely had the time to process what she had just seen when a hand closed tightly around her wrist and she was pulled sharply to the side. Seconds later, an almighty crash reverberated through the entire tunnel as the Kangaskhan bodily tackled the tunnel wall, missing the two young adults by mere centimetres. Ivy let out a scream of fear, her legs suddenly jelly-like and useless. Robert yanked on her again and she stumbled, almost falling, but was somehow able to right herself again. The irate Kangaskhan suddenly turned on them, grunting and snorting viciously, looking like it was going to charge them again.

"Get behind me!" Robert barked, violently pushing Ivy behind him with such force he almost knocked her over. His hand flew to his belt and he pulled out a Pokeball and hurled it forwards. "Hitmonlee! Hi-Jump Kick!"

The Fighting type Pokemon exploded from the Pokeball in a flash of shocking white light and instantly launched itself at the enraged Kangaskhan just as it broke into a run. Ivy let out a scream of fright as the two Pokemon collided and with a horrible crash, the Kangaskhan was uprooted and propelled backwards, slamming into the cave wall. It fell, face first, into the dusty ground and didn't move again.

Ivy stood there, heart hammering against her chest, completely shocked by the display of power the Hitmonlee had just displayed and only vaguely aware of Robert's hand still clasped around her wrist. She watched the Kangaskhan intently, looking for even the slightest twitch or movement but Robert had other ideas. He tugged impatiently at her, calling Hitmonlee to his side, and began dragging her down the nearest tunnel.

"R...Robert!" Ivy cried out in protest as she was pulled along, her arm wrenching painfully in its socket. Her voice was pitchy and panicked and frightened tears pricked at her eyes as the realisation hit her like a punch in the mouth. "What happened? What _happened_?!" she cried shrilly.

Robert stopped abruptly, Ivy almost tripping over her own feet in the process. "...nothing." he said in a strained voice.

"Nothing?!" She cried out. "Robert, that was not nothing!"

"'Not nothing'?" Robert quoted. "A university student using double negatives? I would have expected better of—"

"Enough!" Ivy cried out, reaching out and slapping Robert as hard as she could across the arm. Robert barely flinched; the girl didn't have a lot of brute strength behind her swing, but it was enough to silence him and make him pay attention. "Robert! Won't you please just tell me what the hell all that was about?! Why didn't that Kangaskhan have a baby? How did you know it was in here? And why the hell wouldn't you tell me what it even was?!"

Robert let out a long, slow sigh. It was only then she realised he was still gripping onto her wrist. "Because telling you would mean I'd have to explain it to you..."

"Explain...what?"

"Why I knew it was dangerous."

"And why can't you tell me?"

"Because I'm not proud of it..."

Ivy was getting beyond confused now. "I don't know what you mean..." she wheedled, pulling on his arm like an impatient little child.

Robert sighed. "Ivy, that Kangaskhan… that Kangaskhan is so violent because it doesn't have a baby. It… it lost it."

"Lost it?" Ivy repeated, not understanding. "Th...then can't we get it back for her?"

Robert let out a pained groan at Ivy's misunderstanding. "You don't understand, Ivy. It _died. _It was killed."

"K...killed?" Ivy whispered hoarsely. "How did it...?"

"It was killed by a gang of Machoke..." Robert said, and Ivy swore she could have felt his grip around her wrist tighten slightly as he pushed the words forward. "And I was there to see it happen..."

"What...?" Ivy whispered in horror. "You… you saw it…_die_? How?!"

"I came through Rock Tunnel myself years ago..." Robert explained. His words were tumbling out so fast that they were barely legible to Ivy, and she felt it was like he wanted to get them out as quickly as he could, as if to lessen their impact on him. "I'd wanted a Kangaskhan ever since I'd heard Sebastian got one. I found out you could find them in Rock Tunnel, so I went there looking for them. I found_ that_ Kangaskhan. The one that attacked us just there… I… I wasn't a very good trainer at the time, I'll admit. I stupidly made so much noise battling the Kangaskhan that it attracted a bunch of Machoke. There were so many of them… an entire family of Machoke and Machop and they just swarmed in so fast that I couldn't do anything. I got overwhelmed. They knocked out all my Pokemon and I thought they'd start on me, but… the baby Kangaskhan suddenly got free and tried to run away… I… I saw what was going to happen almost before it did. I tried to stop it, I really did… I tried to get to the baby before the Machoke did, but… I didn't…"

"Oh my God..." Ivy whispered hoarsely.

Robert bowed his head to the ground, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. "After it lost its baby, the Kangaskhan just went mad... I... I went looking for it a few times after that… Local Pokemon nurses had said it had gone into a depression and it started looking after the Cubone that lived in Rock Tunnel. Like it adopted them. Like it became their mother… And whenever anyone tried to invade here, it would chase them out..."

"Oh my God, Robert..."

"So, that's why I didn't want you coming in here alone. Not with that thing in here." Robert concluded gruffly, before removing his hand from around Ivy's wrist. The absence of his touch echoed through her entire arm. "At least now we should be able to look for that Cubone in peace. Now, come on."

Robert began walking again, but Ivy couldn't bring herself to move just yet. She found herself rooted to the spot, like she was being held there by some invisible force. She felt strangely compelled to speak, but she didn't know what to say. Eventually, she was able to squeak out a simple "Robert, I... I'm sorry..."

Robert paused for a moment, coming to a complete halt in his tracks. Ivy stood there, just waiting for the onslaught of sarcasm or scathing retorts she had grown used to with the young man, but to her surprise, they did not come. Instead he snorted slightly and murmured, just barely loud enough for her to hear "Me too."

Ivy's mouth swung open in astonishment but Robert was quickly yelling at her to hurry up and she didn't get the chance to process what she had just heard. She followed him at once, casting a look back behind her nervously, still not totally convinced she was safe, despite knowing the monster of Rock Tunnel was now unconscious and unable to hurt them.

They walked for another five minutes in silence aside from the odd mutter that came from Robert's Hitmonlee, who Robert had kept out "just in case". Ivy's eyes were keenly peeled for any sign of a Cubone, but not a single Pokemon had shown up since the Kangaskhan. Robert was becoming ever more concerned. He had anticipated barely being able to move through Rock Tunnel for Zubats and other Pokemon, but there had been nothing. Not even the slightest glimpse or even _hint _that there were Pokemon even living in the tunnel. Robert chewed furiously on his lip as they moved further. But as the unlikely duo progressed ever deeper, a sound suddenly shattered the silence that encompassed them.

A yell.

Robert sprang into action, his nerves snapping immediately at the sudden noise. He took off at a run towards the source of the yell, moving surprisingly fast for a young man that carried such a rounded bulk as he did. Ivy shrieked as her companion suddenly vanished and started rapidly disappearing up the tunnel. She broke into a run and followed him along the tunnel, emerging into another chamber. This one was huge, and brightly lit. And as Ivy realised in horror, her heart leaping to her mouth, it was also full of people.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" Ivy heard Robert say in shock as she caught up to him, panting and wheezing.

It took her a moment to take in the surroundings sprawled out in front of her. The first thing she saw were the backs of about five people all dressed head to foot in black, illuminated by bright lights that had been strung all over the chamber. The second thing she saw was another young man, this one not all in black, but everyday wear, slumped in a heap and twitching slightly, the unconscious figure of a Nidorino beside him. And the third and final thing she noticed, this perhaps the most horrible thing of all, was the sight of a Cubone skull lying discarded and abandoned only a few feet away from the crowd of people in black. Her hand flew to her mouth as she looked upon the state of the skull.

It had been crushed.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Okay, I didn't really plan on writing a Master's Degree update until I had Free Spirits finished, but I got inspiration so I had to :)**

**There'll be a couple of new characters entering over the next few chapters, including the young man at the end of this chapter. They're OCs so I can't claim any ownership of them, but I'm hoping they'll help drive the story dynamic and push forth the story arc I'm introducing. There is one more slot available for an OC, so if anyone wants that, PM me ONLY for more details and the form. **

**Thanks to my lovely reviewers, Guest, I have a dictionary here, YoungDarkPegasus, TCoBlackRoses, xFillyStarx, MidsummerMoonlight99, Shadow Serenity 57, solyeuse, Manser77 and Puniful-Teakat. Your reviews and support mean the world to me, guys =) Thank you so much!**

**Until next time! **


	18. Justice

Chapter Eighteen

Justice

Ivy let out a frightened squeak, barely even audible, as she looked upon the broken, fragmented shards of the crushed Cubone skull lying only feet away from her. Against all her better judgement, her eyes automatically trailed beyond the skull and then came to rest on a small, bloody bundle lying spread-eagled and abandoned and still close to the shattered skull. Her hands flew to her mouth in terror as she realised she was looking upon the battered, beaten and bloodied corpse of a freshly killed Cubone…

She didn't want to keep looking at the Cubone, but she found she couldn't take her eyes away. The bright lights from above meant she was able to make out every grim and grisly detail and any hope of looking away was simply dashed. The Cubone's body was lacerated with cuts, its flesh ripped open, revealing the sinewy tissue and its tiny little face twisted in pain. Its eyes still remained open, glassy and unresponsive, its mouth locked in the shadow of a scream. The body was tiny, the size of a newborn baby, small enough that Ivy could scoop it up comfortably in her arms. And as Ivy looked upon the dead baby Cubone, bile rose in her throat, tears pricked at her eyes and a horrified, anguished scream escaped her.

Ivy's tortured scream unfortunately then alerted the five people shrouded in black to their presence. They all started violently and turned around sharply to focus entirely on Ivy and Robert, who both backed away worriedly at the sight of the group. Each person had their face obscured by light black masks, only their eyes wholly visible. Judging from the size and structure of their bodies, Robert easily deduced four men and one particularly small and petite woman. He then realised with a flash of horror at each of the black clothed people were clutching cages in all varying size. The cages were swathed in strips of thick, heavy black cloth, preventing any good view of what they were containing. But while Robert was immediately concerned with the five intimidating strangers, his mind instantly jumping to the idea that they may be poachers or something even _worse, _Ivy managed to tear her thoughts away from the dead Cubone to the young man lying close to them. Spurred on by his low groans of pain and with concern mounting in her for a person she knew she could at least help, she darted away from Robert, ignoring his cries of protest and ran straight to the other young man's aid.

"Are… are you alright?!" she asked him frantically.

"Ivy, get away! He could be one of them!" Robert bellowed, his hand flying to the Pokeballs at his waist, his Hitmonlee screeching angrily by his side.

"But, he's hurt!" Ivy cried, ignoring her companion and putting a comforting hand on the young man's shoulders. The young man looked to be in a worrying state, his expensive-looking and well-tailored high collared blue shirt and pressed black trousers ripped, scuffed and covered with dust. His face was marred with pain, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, a thin, jagged cut sliced deeply into his left cheek, beads of blood standing out sharply against his pale skin. His chest heaved with every breath he took, wheezing on every inhale. As Ivy spoke to him, he visibly started, his eyes flashing open abruptly. The sight of a stranger seemed to astonish him, but as he tried to move, he let out an anguished grunt of pain.

"D…dammit!" He cried out, his voice strained.

"A… are you okay?!" Ivy gasped.

The young man didn't even get a chance to reply as a sudden shout from nearby diverted Ivy and Robert's attentions and they all looked up to see the group of people start to run, headed straight towards an adjoining tunnel at the other end of the chamber. The other young man by Ivy's side let out a vague, but angry, cry of protest and he turned towards Ivy, his navy blue eyes flashing. "St…stop them!" he cried, "D—don't let them get away!"

Ivy floundered at the man's request, entirely unsure what she could do to help, but Robert held no such inhibitions. "Htimonlee, quick!" he yelled, and quick as a flash, his Hitmonlee bounded past Ivy and the other young man, immediately giving chase to the retreating people. But the smallest of the black clothed figures, the lone female, suddenly stalled, whipped out a Pokeball and threw it, releasing a Seadra. Without even an instruction from its trainer, it suddenly expelled forth such a thick cloud of pungent black smoke that it encompassed Ivy, Robert, the other young man and the Hitmonlee within seconds. There was an almighty crash as the smoke belched out, Robert strongly suspecting his Hitmonlee had collided straight with the wall, and then everything felt silent again aside from the noises of loud, hacking coughs, as the young adults tried desperately to clear the smoke from their lungs.

The thick, hazy smoke eventually lifted and as her vision eventually cleared, Ivy made out the figure of the other young man stumble to his feet, clutching at the wound to his cheek and looking around helplessly. "No!" he cried out, whipping his head back and forth. "No! Don't… don't tell me they got away?!"

"P… please, don't stand up!" Ivy cried, getting quickly to her feet and rushing to the other man's side. "You're hurt, you—"

"They got away, dammit!" he interrupted her, looking furious. "How did they—?"

"Smokescreen," Robert's calm voice interjected from nearby, making both Ivy and the other young man turn around to look at him, Ivy almost forgetting he was even _there_. "Bastards…" Robert added, under his breath. "They'll be long gone by now…"

The other young man glared at Robert like it was his fault, his unusual navy blue eyes seething with rage. He then seemed to think better of it, grunted angrily and looked to the ground. "D…dammit!" he said again.

"Are you okay?" Ivy asked at once, her eyebrows knitting together in concern.

"I'm fine," he said, sounding gruff and impatient, his face still twisted in anger. He slicked away another thin trail of blood spilling from the cut in his cheek as he spoke. "I… I can't believe I let those people get away…"

"Who were they?" Robert asked at once. "What were they doing here?"

The young man glared at Robert again, his face stony. He remained sternly quiet.

"Are you hard of hearing?" Robert asked coolly. "I'll ask you again. Who were those people and what were they doing here?"

"… I don't know who they were." The young man replied reluctantly, combing a hand through the fronds of his jet black hair. "They just came in here while I was searching around for Cubone—"

"Searching for Cubone?" Ivy asked in surprise, but her question went ignored.

"—and then they just started grabbing all the Cubone they could find. I tried to stop them, but… but…"

"You were outnumbered?" Robert prompted when he fell silent.

"Sh…shut up!" the man said, turning around on Robert, his right eye visibly twitching. His face was twisted in anger, but disappointment and bitter anguish was resonating in the depths of his navy eyes. "I… I let them take the Cubone…" he said thickly. "It was my fault. I… I should have done more to protect those poor Pokemon…"

"Hey, don't feel so bad…" Ivy said softly, daring to take a few steps in the man's direction. "I'm… I'm sure you did the best you could…"

"Well, my best wasn't enough!" the young man barked, making Ivy flinch. "Those Cubone got taken away because I couldn't protect them… One of them even got…" he grimaced, and Ivy remembered with a shock the bloodied corpse of the young Cubone lying abandoned only feet away from them. A twist of nausea stirred in her stomach and she bit her lips fiercely. The young man also looked pained as he put a hand to his head. However, he then spoke in a strong, defiant voice. "Justice needs to be served…"

Ivy hesitated, not sure what to say in light of this. "What… what are they gonna do with all those Cubone?"

"I don't know," the young man said solemnly. "But they took every last Cubone here they could find. I don't… I don't think they've left a single one…"

"No Cubone?!" Ivy cried shrilly. "But… but I need one!"

"You're not the only one…" the young man said, making Ivy lift her head up in puzzlement.

"There's nothing we can do here," Robert suddenly interjected before Ivy could speak again. "Those people are long gone, and if they've taken all the Cubone, there's nothing left for us here. Ivy, we'll have to get you that Cubone another way."

"But, Robert—!"

"But nothing," Robert said firmly. "We need to leave."

"But, I—" Ivy was about to launch into full protesting mode, but she caught a glimpse of the other young man and it made her stop right in her tracks. He was still looking furious, impatiently mopping at the blood on his cheek, but his eyes were sad and full of dismay. A little touch of sadness stirred in her heart as she looked at him. He looked so bitterly upset and despondent, so angry at the injustice of those Cubone being taken and part of her wished she could put her arms around this stranger and tell him everything would be okay. Knowing she couldn't do that, she instead rested a tentative hand on his arm. "Umm… you know…" she murmured. "Um… you should come back to the Pokemon Centre with us…"

"I can't!" the young man said angrily. "I need to go after those people!"

"You're hurt, though!" Ivy protested. "Please… you're in no condition to stay out here."

"I can't leave those poor Cubone!"

"B… but you're _hurt_!Look, I'll… I'll come back to Rock Tunnel _with _you later to look for those people if you want, but seriously, right now… we need to get you seen to."

"I don't want—"

"How can you be of any help to those Cubone when you're hurt!?" Ivy cut him off firmly, fixing him with an intense a stare as she could manage.

The young man's face flashed with frustration and he threw his arms up in exasperation, but there was no denying he had been beaten. Reluctantly, he eventually choked out a reply. "Fine. I'll… I'll go with you…"

"That's good." Ivy nodded, with a breath of relief. "H…hey, you'll be alright. We'll get you something to eat and drink and get your cut seen to and you'll be fine."

The young man grunted.

"Um… I'm Ivy, by the way. Ivy McKenzie."

She offered her hand to him gingerly. He looked at her proffered hand almost suspiciously at first, as if he was trying to work out what to do with it. Then the hard look behind his navy eyes softened and he sighed before eventually taking her hand. "Aaron Westbrook," he mumbled.

"Nice to meet you, Aaron Westbrook." Ivy smiled, before singling out Robert with her finger. "And he's Robert Rhodes, okay? He doesn't say much and he's a bit mean sometimes, but he's glad to meet you too,"

"Pleasure…" Aaron said stiffly.

"Well, now that we're all acquainted, we really should get out of here." Robert said decisively, recalling his Hitmonlee that had Hi-Jump Kicked the cave wall and knocked itself out, before turning towards the chamber exit.

"Ah, Robert, wait for us!" Ivy called back in panic as Robert disappeared down the outgoing tunnel. She turned around to give Aaron an encouraging smile, before quickly giving chase after Robert. Aaron hesitated for a moment as Ivy bounded away, cast a look back at the tunnels behind him and let out a long sigh. He recalled the unconscious Nidorino lying at his side and took one final look at the young dead Cubone, wincing at the grisly sight of its mutilated body. He grimaced and muttered one word under his breath before heading off in pursuit of Robert and Ivy.

"Justice…"

* * *

><p>Some time later, in the relatively empty Pokemon Centre lounge, a noticeably calmer Aaron Westbrook emerged from one of the examination rooms, now sporting a thick white bandage across his cut cheek. His pale face now held some healthy colour to it, his ragged breathing had subsided and he felt far stronger, steadier and better on his feet, but he still hesitated upon seeing Robert and Ivy sitting waiting for him. He forced his unsure feet to move and made himself sit down in the seat opposite to Ivy and Robert. He relaxed slightly only when Ivy offered him a wide smile and a can of ice cold lemonade. He took the proffered gift, snapped it open and drank from it greedily and gratefully, swallowing down almost half of it in three big gulps. While Ivy smiled, Robert barely even acknowledged him, flicking through a <em>Pokemon World <em>magazine, pretending to be fascinated by an article depicting various new gadgets from _Moore and Moore_, a company specialising in top of the range trainer goods.

"Feeling better?" Ivy asked, looking up at the young man.

"Much," Aaron admitted, and as he said so, a sudden smile crept across his face as he looked upon the girl in front of him, finally recognising what a pretty little thing she was. "And all the better for seeing you, Ivy," he added smoothly.

Robert promptly spat out the mouthful of lemonade he had just taken in, but he went ignored as Ivy blinked, tilting her head to one side, puzzled. "I… I'm sorry?" she questioned.

There was a smooth, cool smile now tugging at Aaron's lips. "You're a sight for sore eyes," he said, with a cheeky wink. "Have I thanked you for looking after me in the Rock Tunnel?"

Ivy shook her head, perplexed, whilst Robert fought the urge to slam his head into the table in front of them.

"Well, thank you for taking such good care of me," Aaron's smile was widening with every word he spoke.

Robert was watching in a mixture of disgust and disbelief at the sugary sweet tone of voice Aaron was using. "_Is he… is he _hitting _on Ivy?!_"

Ivy seemed oblivious to Aaron's advances, merely smiling pleasantly. "It's no problem, honestly! It was my pleasure!"

"No, no, Ivy… I mean it," Aaron said, his navy eyes twinkling mischievously as his hand reached out and found hers. "I don't know what I would have done without you." And with that, he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently.

While Ivy did find the kiss to the hand somewhat unusual, she just grinned happily. "You're welcome!" she trilled.

Robert let out an anguished groan and hid his face firmly behind the issue of _Pokemon World _he was flicking through. "_Is she really _that _dense?_" he thought in a strange mixture of shock, annoyance and disbelief, before he let out a deep sigh. "_And of course, it's just my luck that the random guy she would just pick up from nowhere would turn out to be a Lothario… Honestly…_"

A moment passed, Ivy still remaining totally clueless to Aaron's flirtatious ways. "So… do… do you think we'll find the people who took the Cubone?"

"I hope so," Aaron said at once. "They couldn't have gone far… Not with that many of them and not carrying around a bunch of Cubone that were in cages and not Pokeballs. I think I'll do some investigating… Maybe ask around town… someone's bound to have seen them. I _need _to get those Cubone back…"

Ivy looked up at Aaron. "I… I need a Cubone too…"

"You do?" he asked, sounding interested. "Why?"

Ivy flinched a little. "University stuff," she said evasively.

Aaron's eyebrows knotted together in confusion. "University stuff…?"

"Mmm," Ivy nodded uncomfortably.

"Just out of curiosity, what university do you go to?"

"Saffron City."

"S…Saffron University?" Aaron repeated, his voice suddenly reaching an alarmingly high pitch. "I'm… I'm at Saffron University too!"

At this point, Robert actually turned around to pay attention, his eyes widening at Aaron's revelation. Ivy's mouth swung open comically as she looked at the shocked young man in front of her, before a huge, beaming smile flashed across her face. "No way!" she cried out in exuberance.

"Yeah!" Aaron said at once. "I'm in second year, studying Criminal Justice."

"I'm a second year too!" Ivy squealed. "I'm doing history!"

"What a small world," Aaron grinned in approval, idly straightening the cuff of his blue shirt.

"I know!" Ivy cried, her eyes shining. "That's amazing!"

While Ivy and Aaron began talking excitedly about Saffron University, swapping details about first year residences, classes they had taken and possible mutual friends, a thought piqued Robert's interest. "Wait a minute," he said, setting the issue of _Pokemon World _down. "Aaron, if you're at the same university Ivy's at… _and _you're looking for a Cubone like she is, does that mean you're doing the same course as she is?"

Aaron grimaced and looked away briefly, before catching Ivy's eye. He smiled wryly. "They got you too, huh?"

Ivy nodded, before suddenly being hit with the gravity of what had just been revealed. A shock of excitement suddenly bubbled up in her and she jumped up onto her knees on the sofa, bouncing up and down like an ecstatic child. "So… so you're doing the course too? The Pokemon catching course?"

"Unfortunately," Aaron said with a sigh, looking far less enthused than Ivy did at the prospect of meeting a fellow student.

Ivy blinked, managing to compose herself. "How… how did you end up having to do this…?" she asked as calmly as possible.

Aaron grimaced again. "I… failed an extra module."

"An extra module?" Ivy asked in confusion.

"I didn't get a good enough grade in maths before I left school, but because I had such a good application, personal statement and grades in other classes, the university agreed to still let me in to study provided I took a supplementary maths class to make up for it. I passed it in first year, _just_, but… I won't lie, I absolutely flunked it this year," he said with a dry, disappointed laugh. "And so, here I am."

"I failed an essay," Ivy blurted out dumbly.

"I see," Aaron nodded, before looking over at Robert. "And what about you, Robert?"

"Me?" Robert said incredulously. "No, I'm not at university. I'm only here cos my idiot cousin took a soft spot to her," he jerked his thumb at Ivy in an offhand manner. "…and her friend."

"Yeah, I brought a friend with me." Ivy explained when Aaron looked at her in confusion. "A friend from university," she added. "He took up Pokemon training with me cos I don't think I could have handled it on my own," she admitted with a short laugh.

Aaron nodded again. "Well, I came on my own. I didn't have anyone to go with, and although I didn't have any experience, my dad gave me some pointers before I left. He used to be on the police force, so he knew his stuff."

"How many Pokemon for the course do you have?" Ivy asked in interest.

"Just two," Aaron said, looking slightly sheepish. "Nidorino and Venonat."

"You have a Venonat!?" Ivy cried out, making Aaron flinch in surprise at the shrillness of her voice. "Oh my God, where did you _get _one?!"

"The Safari Zone in Fuchsia City,"

"I could have told you that," Robert imparted from nearby, but he went unnoticed.

"I live in Fuchsia City, so getting a Venonat was quite easy. I know the Safari Zone very well, you know?" Aaron said, and Ivy detected a slight hint of pride in his voice. "I caught my Nidorino as a Nidoran there too. I've also got a Staryu and a Magnemite, just to help balance out my team."

Ivy looked distinctly uncomfortable, intimidated by the team Aaron had just described. "You got all that in just three weeks…?"

"Yeah," he said like it was the simplest thing in the world. "What have you got?"

"Uhh…" Ivy hesitated, feeling a sheepish blush tinge her cheeks. "Beedrill, Pidgey and Nidoran…"

Robert snorted to himself in the corner, while Aaron blinked. "I… I see… Well, it's a start, isn't it?"

Ivy let out a long sigh, bringing her legs up underneath her and hugging her knees. "I'm really not doing very well…" she admitted.

Robert guffawed to himself in the corner, picking up the discarded _Pokemon World _again. "A Beedrill that couldn't care less, a… what was it…? A Mafia Boss Lady Pidgey and a Nidoran that's scared of her own shadow. You've really not had much luck, have you?"

"Robert!" Ivy wheedled, wishing she had something to throw at him.

But while Ivy was getting somewhat used to Robert's quips, insults and putdowns, beginning to fancy them as something of a way Robert showed affection, Aaron was not impressed with the older man's behaviour. "Hey!" he said at once, his dark eyes narrowing. "You really shouldn't speak to a lady like that," he said sharply.

"Her? A lady? Don't make me laugh," Robert chuckled merrily at the absurdity of the idea.

"You should learn to watch your mouth!" Aaron said coldly.

Robert stuck out his bottom lip and moved his eyes downwards until he was almost cross-eyed to stare at his petted lip an action which Ivy admittedly found rather funny, despite Robert's maturity level hitting rock bottom. However, Robert's clowning around only seemed to anger Aaron more, his right eye suddenly developing a violent twitch. Sensing an imminent argument, Ivy quickly stepped in and tried to pacify both young men with a big smile and a cheery tone to her voice.

"It's okay, Aaron." She assured him. "Robert's always like this. If you think _he's _bad, you should see my best friend, Jack. He's about ten times worse."

Aaron looked horrified. "Does no-one know how to treat a woman properly?" he paused, before another playful smile teased its way onto his lips. "Especially a woman such as charming and lovely as yourself, Ivy?"

"Treat a woman properly?" Robert repeated scathingly, glaring at Aaron before Ivy could reply. "Says the one slobbering over her like a piece of meat?"

"I… I beg your pardon?!" Aaron said, looking flustered.

"I fail to see how flinging cheesy pick up lines at a woman who's obviously_ not _interested is treating her with respect!"

"Huh? Not interested in what?" Ivy asked innocently.

There was a resounding _thwack _as the heel of Robert's palm made sharp, painful contact with the middle of his forehead. "Unbelievable…" he said darkly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Jack and Sebastian would hurry and get back…"

"A…anyway!" Ivy quickly interjected before things could escalate any further. "So, Aaron…? If those people really did take those Cubone… what are we going to do about getting one for our course?"

"I don't know," Aaron admitted. "Normally, I would just suggest going back into Rock Tunnel, but… those people took so many Cubone… I'd never seen so many in all my life. Even if they didn't get them _all,_ any that have been left behind will be in hiding. They'll never come out. Our chances of getting one are slim to nil."

"But… but what else can we do?" Ivy asked in horror, her heart plummeting sharply to her stomach. "Can we find Cubone anywhere else?"

"Not in the wild, no…" Aaron said with a shake of his head.

"Looks like the only way you'll get a Cubone is to trade for it," Robert said coolly.

"T…trade?" Ivy asked, her eyes wide.

"That, or go after the people who took the Cubone," Aaron said with a definite nod.

"Go after them? But… but that's dangerous! And… we might not be able to find them! It would… it would take so long, too! It'd risk us failing the course…"

"I know," Aaron said with a sigh. "But I can't in good conscience leave those poor Pokemon at the hands of those people. Who knows what they're going to do to them…?"

"But what can we do? Realistically…?"

"I don't know. But I'll try. I have to try." Aaron said decisively. "I'll maybe… maybe ask around in town. Maybe someone will have seen them. I mean, it's five people all in black carrying around cages full of Cubone. Not something you can hide easily…"

Ivy nodded, before she looked at Robert nervously. "Robert… is it… _likely _I could get a Cubone by trading?"

Robert shrugged. "I guess so. So long as you gave the would-be trader a good offer."

"But… but I don't wanna give up any of my Pokemon…" Ivy said, looking horrified. "What should I do?"

"Why not go to the Safari Zone?" Aaron suggested. "There's a lot of rare Pokemon there. If you pick up something valuable to a collector, you could probably get a trade for a Cubone quite easily. On the plus side, you could find a Venonat, too."

Ivy nodded, admitting that the prospect did seem quite tempting. "Y…yeah, I guess so. And… and what about you? What will you do?"

"Look around for those Cubone," Aaron said. "I want to find them. I… I let them be taken, so I only feel responsible that I should get them back."

Ivy looked back at Robert, who had was no longer paying attention. "Listen, um… I'd like to help you ask around town… I mean, you don't have to take any help, but… I will if you'd like me to."

"You'd do that?"

"S…sure!" Ivy said at once. "I'll even get Sebastian and Jack to help too! I'm sure they'd like to, especially when they hear about it all."

Aaron looked at Ivy for a long time, a look that could have meant anything adorning his face. It was almost as if he was seeing her for the first time. "Well, that's… that's very kind. I, uh… I should repay the debt somehow…"

"Oh, no, you don't have—"

"Yes, I do." He said at once. "You already saved my hide back in Rock Tunnel and now you're promising to help me look for the Cubone. I have to repay the debt." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Wait, I know. You said you haven't gotten a Venonat, yes?"

Ivy nodded.

"I know the Safari Zone in Fuchsia like the back of my hand. I know exactly where to get all the best Venonats. If you help me find _some _information about these Cubone and where they've been taken, I'll take you to the Safari Zone and help get you a Venonat."

"You will?!" Ivy asked eagerly.

Aaron nodded. "I was thinking of going back to Fuchsia anyway at some point, so it's no trouble."

"Thank you, Aaron." Ivy smiled.

"It's not a problem, my dear." Aaron grinned.

Ivy beamed at him again. "So," she cried, bounding to her feet like an excited Growlithe. "Shall we go ask around?"

"Sure," he smiled, also getting to his feet. "Let's start investigating."

The two of them practically ran out the door, eager to start their investigation, leaving Robert in their wake. He sighed and continued reading. "_Investigate? Who do they think they are? Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson_?" He had to chuckle himself at the mental image, before idly flicking through _Pokemon World,_ not really taking in the information he was reading. He remained like that for a solid ten minutes, before the door to the Pokemon Centre opened and Jack and Sebastian came strolling in, laughing to themselves at some unknown joke, laden down with bags from the local Pokemart. Both young men stopped, looking a little surprised to see Robert there. It was clear neither of them had expected to see him back.

"What are you doing back so soon?" Sebastian asked, setting down a huge shopping bag on the sofa next to Robert. "I thought you were taking Ivy to Rock Tunnel."

"We've been and gone," Robert said, casually. "Only problem is… we ran into a few problems. The least of which being Ivy adopting… uh… a little friend."

"You mean a Cubone?" Jack asked eagerly. "Did she get one?"

"That's a whole other story," Robert said darkly, letting out a deep sigh. "No, she didn't get a Cubone. However she did find something just as clingy and annoying as a Cubone…"

He looked up at two blank, confused faces before sighing again. "Oh, just sit down. I'll explain everything… You'll have to see it to believe it, mind you…"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Well, another Master's Degree update =)**

**With this chapter, I introduce the first of the four submitted OCs. Aaron Westbrook, submitted by my boyfriend, MasterFreezeman will be appearing in the next three to four chapters to help advance a certain plot point, as will be the case with the other OCs submitted. Their apperances will eventually culminate in the final chapters of the story. I selected OCs based on their quality or in the case with Aaron and one other OC, the fact they will help drive a specific element of the story forward. **

**Well, I don't really have too much to say apart from that. I know some people dislike OC submission in fics, but I'm enjoying writing the OCs and I take it as a good challenge and learning experience to adapt to characters I myself have not crafted =)**

**Oh, anyone who caught my very subtle Spirited reference wins a cookie =P**

**Thanks to my wonderful regular reviewers, Puniful-TeaKat, MidsummerMoonlight99, MasterFreezeman, TCoBlackRoses, YoungDarkPegasus, Shadow Serenity 57 and PurpleLunaWolf. Special thanks to all those who submitted, or expressed interest in submitting, OCs as well =)**

**Until next time!**


	19. Elementary, My Dear McKenzie

Chapter Nineteen

Elementary, My Dear McKenzie

"So, let me get this straight…" Jack breathed out, leaning back in the sofa, trying to get a handle on the whole unbelievable situation Robert had just explained to them. "You got mauled by a Kangaskhan in Rock Tunnel, and then found a bunch of people all dressed in black like some glorified cult who were stealing and even _killing _Cubone. Somehow along the way this Aaron person got caught up in it and then Ivy's… how did you phrase it… _adopted _this guy and then you found out that he's also doing the same course as she is? And they're now currently running around Lavender town like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson wannabes trying to track these Cubone kidnappers down?"

Robert nodded swiftly.

"Oh, Ivy…" Jack moaned, sinking his head into his hands, instantly worried. "Trouble just seems to follow you around like a bad smell. Why don't you ever think what you're doing...?"

"Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, huh?" Sebastian was chuckling to himself despite the seriousness of the situation, entertaining an amusing mental image. "I wonder which one was which…"

"Ivy's not smart enough to be Sherlock Holmes," Robert said at once.

Sebastian frowned disapprovingly at his older cousin. "That's not very nice…"

"No, it's true." Jack deadpanned before Robert could defend himself. "Ivy's not exactly… the brightest bulb in the box, shall we say? She's not got a lot of common sense. Especially if she goes running off with strange guys practically the moment after she meets them." He then wrung his hands together nervously. "She should know better than that…"

"To be honest, Jack," Robert said, looking up at him. "He may be flirty and inappropriate, but I don't think he's the kind of guy who's going to drag her down a dark alley and—"

"Yes, thank you, Robert!" Jack cut him off abruptly.

"You really worry about her, don't you?" Sebastian asked, his face softening slightly, noticing just how agitated the normally calm and composed young man looked.

"Of course I do," Jack said at once. "That stupid girl..." He added under his breath. "Why doesn't she ever _think? _He could do anything to her..."

Sebastian didn't quite know what to say in reply to Jack, however he did privately find it quite remarkable as to how much Jack did seem to genuinely care for and worry over his best friend, even if he didn't like to show it. Robert, however, sighed darkly at the amount of fuss being made, obviosuly holding no such affections.

"I don't get why you're making such a big deal of this. You know, you should just marry her off to some guy and let _him _take care of her. Problem solved."

"I'm not ever letting Ivy get married. Not without police checks, background checks and a _serious _Spanish Inquisition on the guy."

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisiton," Sebastian chuckled to himself, but went ignored.

"What are you, her father?" Robert asked in disdain, raising an eyebrow.

Jack sighed. "Look, never mind that. I wanna go find this Aaron person just to make sure he's not trying… _something _with Ivy."

"I'd like to go too," Sebastian added. "Hearing about those Cubone has worried me. People have done similar things to Cubone in the past. Very _bad _people and very _bad _things. I'm concerned we might be having a repeat of that…"

"Well, I'm not coming," Robert said folding his arms defiantly. "I've done enough running around like a madman for one day, thank you very much." he said darkly, sitting further back in his chair as if to cement the point.

"Alright, fine..." Sebastian said, pushing himself up from his seat. "But you did say they were heading into town right?"

Robert grunted in the affirmative, already engrossed on some game he had pulled up on his mobile phone. Sebastian turned to Jack, who was still looking anxious. "Let's get going," he told the other young man firmly.

Meanwhile, as Jack and Sebastian left an indifferent Robert behind to start their search, Aaron and Ivy were roaming around the relatively empty streets of Lavender Town in the middle of conducting their investigation. There weren't many people around to ask, but those that they were able to pin down didn't seem to know anything and Ivy was growing frustrated with their fruitless efforts, having expected the search to be over quite quickly. She let out an exasperated sigh, her feet beginning to ache and throb from the constant walking back and forth along the streets. "We've been at this ages," she observed rather nervously, noticing that Aaron had remained stubbornly determined despite every knock-back and dead end they had encountered.

"The path to justice never runs smoothly. Or quickly, for that matter..." Aaron said with a sigh, mopping at his brow. "And it doesn't help the people of Lavender Town are quite funny with strangers..."

"Great..." Ivy groaned, wishing she could stop even for five minutes, just to rub her sore feet and rest her aching limbs.

"We can't give up, though." Aaron said decisively. "I'm not going to let those Cubone suffer at the hands of whoever took them. All it takes is one person, Ivy. One person, one clue, one lead and the whole investigation could make perfect sense."

Ivy blinked at Aaron's reply. "You sure you're just a university student, Aaron? All this stuff you're talking about makes you sound like a detective..."

"Well, I am studying Criminal Justice," Aaron mustered up a smile, albeit a rather weak one. "And my father worked on the police force. It's kinda natural I want to follow in his footsteps. I... I hate crime. In all its shapes and forms. And if there's anything I can do to stop it, no matter how petty or insignificant it may be, then I'll do it,"

"Wow," Ivy breathed out in admiration. "That's impressive,"

"Not really..." Aaron replied, his voice trailing off as he noticed someone approaching them from the other end of the street. "Hold that thought," he muttered, before stepping slightly to the side to intercept the person approaching them. "Excuse me?"

The person stopped abruptly. It was a young man, probably no older than Ivy or Aaron. A line of shining Pokeballs gleamed out from under the folds of a fashionable chequred shirt in vibrant red and blue. The shirt had been left open, showing off a tight black undershirt depicting some desginer logo. His jeans were dark and had a fine cut to them, his hair was stylish and his face quite pleasing to look upon. He seemed to be the kind of person who should carry himself with an air of confidence, even a defined swagger, but Aaron noticed something worrying. His statement clothes, good looks and the full team of six Pokeballs he carried on proud display around his waist suggested he had every reason to look confident and open, but this young man seemed on edge. He walked with his head bowed, almost like he was trying to withdraw into himself. His shoulders were hunched, almost rigid, but his eyes were alive, darting this way and that, taking in every detail of everything he walked past. Almost as if he was looking for something. Watching for something. Even as Aaron approached him, the young man started, his eyes flashing in alarm at being spoken to.

"Whoa, easy there," Aaron said calmly in face of the young man's panic. "Didn't mean to frighten you there, friend."

"What do you want?" The man asked at once, his hand lingering at the Pokeballs at his waist..

"Just to ask you a couple questions,"

"Questions?" The young man twitched slightly, immediately avoiding Aaron's gaze. "What kind of questions?"

"I was just wondering if you'd perhaps seen a group of people perhaps moving around Lavender Town today? About five people, all in black? Maybe carrying around some cages?"

"No." The young man said at once.

Ivy groaned in a tortured manner at the young man's negative reaction. "Another dead end..."

"No, not quite..." Aaron murmured, his eyes tracing every detail of the man's face, his ears keenly pricked. "Sir, if I may. What's your name?"

"What? Why do you want to know my name?!" the man asked indignantly.

"Please, sir. Just hear me out. Your name, please?"

"...Owen Porter."

"And your age?"

"Twenty two."

"And you're a Pokemon trainer?"

"I am."

"May I see your trainer's card, please?"

"What business is it of-?!"

"Please, sir. Humour me."

"Fine," Owen said, impatiently digging around in the messenger bag he was wearing. After a few moments, he flung a trainer card at Aaron.

Aaron consulted it only momentarily, indeed noting the young man's name to be Owen Porter and that he was twenty two years of age, as he had said. Ignoring Ivy's murmurs of confusion, he handed back the card to the young man. "Very good. And, if I may ask you, what colour is the sky?"

"I'm sorry, what?!" Owen sounded agitated and looked like he wanted to punch Aaron in the face. Ivy squeaked nervously to herself in the background at Owen's angered tone.

"What colour is the sky?" Aaron repeated calmly.

"Well, it's blue of course!"

"Of course it is," Aaron smiled. "Now... Owen... I'll ask again. Did you see a group of people all dressed in black carrying cages today?"

"What the hell, man? Haven't I already answered your damn question?!"

"Yes, you have. So it wouldn't be that hard to anser it again, correct?"

Owen grunted angrily.

"So, Owen. Have you seen a group of people all dressed-"

"No!"

"No?"

"No, haven't seen them."

"I see..." Aaron said, his eyes trailing over Owen's face, noting a slight dilation to the pupils of his eyes and his breathing suddenly become rapid. Even as he spoke, Owen's hand drifted to his face, almost as if he was trying to create some barrier between himself and his questioner. "Well, that's too bad." Aaron said. "Cos I don't believe you."

"You what?!"

"I don't believe you. What I do believe, Owen Porter, is that you're lying to me."

"What?! How dare you?!"

"I do dare because this is a very serious matter," Aaron's voice had gone dangerously low. "There are people out there hurting Pokemon. Stealing them and hurting them and even _killing _them! That's a criminal offence, you know? And if you know anything about this and you don't tell the appropriate authorities, you could be charged as an accessory to the offence! You could go to prison!"

Owen grimaced, running a hand agitatedly through his mop of fluffy brown hair. "B...but what good could telling you do? If I couldn't stop them—" he suddenly broke off, looking horrified.

Aaron's eyes widened. "Stop them? You tried to stop them?"

"I... I—!"

"Tell me the truth, Owen!" Aaron demanded, his voice harsh and firm, yet still dangerously calm and quiet. "You saw those people, didn't you?"

"I..."

"And you tried to stop them, didn't you?"

"No, I—!"

"And you couldn't beat them, could you?"

"No, no, I—"

"And when you couldn't beat thenm, I bet they threatened you, didn't they?"

"N-no, I don't... I can't... How did you...?"

"You need to answer me, Owen!"

"Fine!" The young man shouted back, his face marred with frustration. He let out a haughty sigh and immediately looked away. "Yeah, I saw your group of people in black with all those cages! I thought they were poachers and I tried to step in, but... I was totally outnumbered! I couldn't do anything. They... They said they were in a hurry, that they couldn't stay to finish me off... But they said if I even so much as attempted to tell police or go after them, they'd come back and kill me..."

"Typical scare tactics," Aaron said in disgust. "Lowlife criminal bastards..."

Ivy was watching Aaron and Owen's exchange worridely, wondering if she should interject. But she didn't even know exactly what was going on and realised she probably shouldn't barge in.

"Which way did they go?" Aaron then asked.

"Wh-what?"

"Go. Which way did they go?"

"I… I think they went south."

"South?" Aaron said in disbelief.

"Yeah, south." Owen nodded. "I… I don't know why… There's nothing at all down that way for who knows how many miles... I don't understand why they wouldn't go to Saffron… It's closer..."

"Why not Saffron indeed…?" Aaron muttered to himself, looking thoughtful, before drawing himself back up to his full height. "Well, thank you very much for all your help, Owen. I'll be going now," he said bluntly, before closing his hand around Ivy's. "Come along, Ivy. We need to get going. Have a good day, sir."

And with that, leaving an entirely bemused Owen in his wake, Aaron pulled a very shocked Ivy back down the street and ducked her into a secluded alleyway. He then paused, releasing her hand and immediately starting to think. Ivy, still in total shock at what she had just seen her new companion do, couldn't help herself and burst out in excitement. "Aaron, that was incredible! You were like Sherlock Holmes! How did you figure out that guy was lying to you?!"

"Oh, every poker player has a tell..." he said offhandedly, his mind still running over all the new information he had just gathered.

"W-wow!" Aaron's smooth response had only mafe the whole thing seem even cooler to her. "You should be a detective,"

Aaron smiled wryly. "Oh, I would if I could. Only problem is that I'm not too good at this whole evidence gathering thing. I only go on instinct and guts. And instinct and guts don't stand up in a court of law. I'd be pretty useless trying to gather evidence."

"Oh, but that's such a waste... You've got such a talent there..."

Aaron smiled, his tone becoming teasing. "Ivy McKenzie, I am insulted that you think I'm wasting my talents. No, I want to be a behavioural analyst."

"A what?" Ivy asked dumbly.

"A behavioural analyst," Aaron repeated. "You know what I did just there with spotting how that guy was lying to me? It's that, but on a much larger scale and with real criminals. I read the body language and voice patterns of someone suspected of something, and I should be able to spot if they're lying, being dishonest or hiding something and if they're being truthful. And with enough training, I'd be able to judge what kind of person would commit certain crimes or actions and then be able to give the police a profile of who to look for,"

"Wow," Ivy breathed out, highly impressed. "That sounds so...complicated! I couldn't do that!"

Aaron chuckled at the girl's almost childlike enthusiasm. "And what about you? Any future aspirations?"

Ivy considered this momentarily, before saying in all seriousness "Not to fail university,"

"No, I meant after—" Aaron started, but quickly decided better of it and started steering Ivy down another street. "Never mind," he said swiftly. "We should keep looking around. Maybe head south. See if we can find something..."

Ivy nodded, but she wasn't about to let Aaron away with revealing so little about his super-human powers of perception. She was intrigued by this fascinating young man and keen to know whatever else he had to tell her. "But Aaron... Where did you learn to do all that? Telling how that guy was lying?"

"My dad," Aaron said simply. "He taught me the basics on how to catch a liar and I just expanded on it as I got older. It's simple, really. First, you need to establish a baseline of behaviour, or in layman's terms, learn how a person's face and voice acts when they're being truthful,"

"So...so that's why you asked him for his name, age and what colour the sky was, right?!"

"Indeed. And then once you learn how a person behaves normally, it's quite easy to spot the "tells" they display when they're lying. And that's all there is to it,"

"Wow... You really _are _like Sherlock Holmes! That's incredible!"

"Not at all," Aaron said with a dashing smile. "It's elementary, my dear McKenzie,"

Ivy laughed delightedly at Aaron's reference and Aaron couldn't help but chuckle along with her, but their revelry was interrupted by a shout. Ivy glanced around to see Jack and Sebastian yelling and waving at her from across the street. She waved back enthusiastically as both young men darted across the road and joined them. Sebastian looked as calm and composed as ever, but Jack was frowning as he stood in front of Ivy. "What the hell do you think you're playing at?" He asked sternly.

"I...what?" Ivy asked in confusion, wondering what on earth was wrong with her friend. "Wh…what have I done now?"

Jack looked away from Ivy and started glaring at Aaron instead, looking as if he could easily turn the other young man to stone. "Why the hell would you go running off with some strange guy without telling anyone where you were going? God, Ivy! Are you stupid? He could have been anyone! He could have done anything to you!"

"Wh-what? But...but he's not anyone! He's Aaron!"

Aaron was standing in the middle of everything, looking inherently confused. "Ivy...do you know these men?"

"Know them?! For your information, I'm Jack Hartman. Ivy's best friend." Jack said icily, his eyes firmly fixated on Aaron. "And I don't approve of her waltzing off with strange men she's only just met!"

"Jack!" Ivy hissed, feeling a red hot blush invade her cheeks. "What are you doing?!"

"And I don't like the way you were supposedly slobbering all over her like some lovesick Growlithe." Jack continued, ignoring Ivy's protests but placing a protective hand on her arm the whole time he spoke. "How could you be so disrespectful?"

"I believe the lady is capable of choosing who she does and doesn't wish to associate with," Aaron said coolly, his arms folding tightly. "It is disrespectful of you, as her so-called "best friend", not to honour those wishes. Perhaps it could be that you are jealous she chose to associate with me and not you...?"

Jack visibly jumped at Aaron's jibe, his face then instantly twisting in rage. "I'm afraid you're mistaken," he said in a strained voice. "I'm not jealous of you, merely concerned for my best friend. I hear she's been attacked in the Rock Tunnel by some people killing Pokemon and then find out she's run off with a random stranger she found there! You could have been one of them for all I know! And your totally inappropriate behaviour towards a woman you just met is nothing short of disgusting!"

"E...enough!" Ivy suddenly interjected, just before Aaron could retort back. "G...guys, please! Don't fight!"

Ivy looked deeply upset at the sight of her squabbling companions, her eyes dangerously watery. The sight was enough to silence Aaron instantly, and he apologised immediately, his entire face softening. Jack however didn't seem moved by Ivy's plea, looking away and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "unbelievable!" under his breath. Ivy, however, caught him and turned around, her eyes welling up and her voice shaking with emotion.

"I... I'm not a baby, Jack! I'm nineteen years old! And if I go off and do things on my own with people I've just met, then that's my right! I... I wanted to help Aaron! Help those Cubone! And... And I understand you were worried and all, but that's no reason for you to come here and start yelling at Aaron and insulting him when it was _my _decision to come here, not his! If... If you wanna yell, that's fine! Yell! But yell at the right person! This is my fault and not his! Don't yell at a person who had nothing to do with it,"

Jack looked at Ivy for a long time, as if trying to work out exactly what to say to her. He eventually threw his hand up in a defeated manner. "Fine!" He said exasperated, before looking across at Aaron. "I... I'm sorry I yelled..." He said quite gruffly.

"I… I admit I also spoke out of turn," Aaron admitted, bowing his head slightly.

Ivy smiled broadly, her upset at the bickering all of a sudden instantly forgotten. "See, isn't that better?" She beamed brightly.

"I… I guess..." Jack said with a minor shrug, looking uncharacteristically sheepish and miffed from being scolded from the person he normally gave the scolding to. Somehow though, thinking of his friend, he stretched a smile onto his face and flicked Ivy lightly on the nose making her squeal. "But... But don't think you've gotten away with this, Ivy. You and I are gonna have a serious talk later,"

"Awww!" Ivy whined, scrabbling at Jack's hands. "Aw, I hate your serious talks...!"

Aaron watched the soft, warm banter going on between the two friends and felt a stab of jealousy pierce his heart. He was distracted however when Sebastian turned to him, idly moving aside some stray strands of red hair falling into his eyes. "Did you find anything about the missing Cubone?"

Aaron stared at this stranger, wondering who the hell he was and how exactly he knew about the missing Cubone. He didn't even have the guy's name and he wasn't keen to divulge critical information to just anyone. It was only the fact that he seemed to know Ivy that made him give in. "Someone saw the people who took them heading south." He said bluntly after some hesitation.

"South?" Sebastian repeated, his face knitting in confusion. "But there's nothing down south for miles and miles... What on earth could they be doing...?"

"I have some...theories..." Aaron said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But nothing that can be done here..."

"Nothing, huh?"

"Nothing." Aaron said defiantly as Ivy looked across at him again. "The people who took those Cubone, I'm sorry to say, have probably long left Lavender. Our only hope is to contact the police in the next town over and keep looking."

"Keep looking?" Sebastian asked, looking concerned. "I.. I appreciate seeing those Cubone killed and taken right in front of you must be upsetting, but it wasn't your fault. And it's not your personal responsibilty to get them back,"

"It is." Aaron replied at once. "I let those Cubone get hurt, therefore it's my responsibility to get them back. I... I have to make sure justice is done."

Ivy, who had been listening to this whole conversation with heightened interest, left Jack's side and approached Aaron, looking concerned. "But what about the course...?" She asked, her eyes full of worry. "If you fail it... You won't be able to be a behavioural analyst..."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that," Aaron said, resting a comforting hand on Ivy's shoulders and smiling at her. "I don't intend to fail the course."

"You don't?"

"Course not. And don't worry, you won't fail your course either."

"I…won't?"

"No way," Aaron smiled. "I tell you what... You're still looking for Venonat, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, why don't we head to Fuchsia? I could take you into the Safari Zone and we could get a Venonat there. And... If we both catch ourselves a couple rare Pokemon, I'm sure we'll be able to use them to help bargain for a Cubone on the trading market,"

While Ivy grinned widely and excitedly, Jack's heart dropped like a stone and he turned to Sebastian in utter disbelief. "Wait... Is this guy coming with us...?"

Sebastian chuckled. "It looks like it..."

"Oh great..." Jack said with a deep sigh. "More distractions… God, and I still don't trust the guy…" he added softly, just loud enough for Sebastian to hear. "And I still… can't forgive Ivy for just running off with a strange guy like that…"

"You know, you are forgetting something, Jack." Sebastian said, lowering his voice softly as an exuberant Ivy decided to direct everyone back to the Pokemon Centre and the odd little party began walking.

"What?" Jack asked, somewhat grumpily, scuffing his shoes off the pavement.

"You gave Ivy a hard time about going off with a strange man that she'd never met, but you're forgetting you did the exact same thing."

"What?! When did I do that!?" Jack asked in astonishment, before all of a sudden remembering who he was talking to. "Oh yeah… You and Robert…"

"We were also technically strange men that you guys went off with without knowing who we were, yes." Sebastian was smiling wryly.

Jack muttered something. "That's… that's different…"

"How is it different? Because it was _your _decision to trust me and Robert?"

"I…" Jack floundered momentarily.

"That's it, isn't it?" Sebastian said with a knowing smile. "You trusted me and Robert, so it was fine."

"But it _was _fine! You two turned out to be just fine."

"And who's to say that won't happen with this Aaron person?" Sebastian asked him seriously. "Ivy's a good judge of character—"

"Ivy? A good judge of character?" Jack laughed to himself a little. "Ivy's the kind of person who'd probably invite a burglar trying to rob her into the house for a cup of tea and the chance to talk about his problems…"

"Well then, she sees the good in everyone," Sebastian chuckled. "For what it's worth, this Aaron guy doesn't seem like a bad person. Anyone who cares so much about an issue that he wasn't even responsible for has to be someone worth getting to know. And it could be good for Ivy having someone around doing the same course as her. Give him a chance," he advised, before noticing that Ivy and Aaron had pulled ahead and were in danger from disappearing from their sight altogether. "Ah, they're escaping. We should catch up,"

"Yeah, we should," Jack said, quickening his pace alongside Sebastian. They walked for some time in silence before he eventually spoke again. "I just… I just hope this Aaron guy doesn't…" he trailed off, uncertain how to finish his sentence.

"Doesn't what? Take her away from you?"

"I didn't say that!" Jack said at once.

Sebastian chuckled as a red tinge entered Jack's cheeks. "She's your best friend. She wouldn't drop you for anything, I don't think. Not Ivy. She's just not that kind of person. I think she's as protective of you as you are of her."

Jack flushed slightly. "I… well… I… That's…!" he looked flustered, before eventually spitting out "J… Just don't tell _her _that."

"My lips are sealed," Sebastian said with a wink as they approached the Pokemon Centre.

No sooner had the two young men entered the relatively quiet Pokemon Centre lobby, Ivy enthusiastically raced up to them like a whirlwind, her eyes alert and shining. "Jack! Sebastian!" she cried, tugging on their arms. "Get ready! Get ready! We're heading out to Fuchsia City!"

"Fuchsia City, huh?" Sebastian smiled, immediately taken in by the young woman's eagerness.

"Yeah!" Ivy cried. "Aaron's gonna take me into the Safari Zone to get a Venonat and a Pokemon I can use to trade for a Cubone!"

"That's a great idea," Sebastian grinned. "The Safari Zone is an excellent place to get Pokemon."

"And Aaron knows it really well!"

Sebastian couldn't help himself and he reached out and patted the young woman fondly on the head. "I'm sure he does, Ivy. When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible, Aaron says!"

"Alright then, I'll go get ready."

"M… me too," Jack mustered up a smile.

Robert and Aaron, who had been lingering in the background, but avoiding actually physically speaking to each other, also said they would go and get ready in preparation for leaving, Robert albeit a little more reluctantly. Jack, who admitted to feeling saddened at the way his best friend enthusiastically engaged Aaron in conversation, hanging on his every word like a child bestowing attention on a new flashy toy, still couldn't help but feel a little happier as he watched her face light up with excitement as she relayed the plans to them. She sounded so full of hope and confidence that she would find her Venonat and a Pokemon that would allow her to trade for her Cubone, behaviour that he would never have expected from her. Jack had to admit it was a joy to see her so cheerful and eager and even optimistic about the course that he knew weighed heavily on her mind and caused her a lot of worry and strife. He let out a sigh, resigning himself to the fact that if having this guy around made Ivy happy and gave her hope and confidence in herself and her abilities, and helped her in a way that he couldn't, that he'd be alright with it. He knew he was the kind of person to never show affection in public, or even in private, but he couldn't deny that Ivy was and always would be, his number one priority.

And with plans made and spirits lifted, the newly acquired party of five began packing up, their sights firmly set on Fuchsia City.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Whew, long chapter here!**

**Uh, yeah, I think it speaks for itself. Just getting to know Aaron, who'll be sticking around for a few more chapters. After his departure, I'll introduce two more OCs =)**

**The next chapter will document Ivy's attempts to capture a Venonat. And we all know with our Ivy, even the simplest task never runs smoothly. **

**Many many thanks to my lovely and amazing reviewers Puniful-Teakat, MasterFreezeman, Guest and MidsummerMoonlight99**


	20. Beginner's Luck

Chapter Twenty  
>Beginner's Luck<p>

Silence Bridge was a funny name for a bridge, Ivy thought to herself. It certainly wasn't silent like the name would suggest, not with the screeches and caws of Pidgey that flew overhead, circling around in the hope of nabbing any fish that swam too close to the surface or picking off the crumbs from the leftovers of picnics, the gentle murmuring whisper of waves lapping underneath the wooden planks and the exuberant cries of trainers and Pokémon alike as they traversed and went about their day to day business. But Ivy didn't mind the misleading name; completely fascinated with this unique little structure and the sight of so much water all around her.

She couldn't help but let out an awed exhale, eagerly drinking in all the unfamiliar sights, totally worlds away from the cold, stony city life she was accustomed to. The entire of the route, as far as the eye could see, seemed to her to be made up of just an impossibly long bridge that snaked and twisted its way into the distance. Everything was surrounded by fresh, crystal clear seawater, impossibly deep and that glimmered and shone in the reflection of the warm afternoon sun.

"I've never been on a bridge like this before!" Ivy announced, waving her arms up and down like an excitable little girl.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Aaron smiled.

"Yes!" Ivy beamed.

"She acts like she's never seen water before…" Robert inputted darkly. He was eyeing the water rather nervously himself, a fact that Jack couldn't fail to notice. He didn't dare mention it however in fear of potentially being pushed _into _said water.

"Not a lot of water around Pewter City," Sebastian observed cheerfully as the little party continued to move forwards.

"I guess not," Robert muttered, his eyes trailing away from the shifting water underneath their feet. The sight of it swelling through the gaps of the wooden bridge made him slightly nervous and he found himself questioning, and not for the first time since they had begun making their way across this bridge, the durability of the old planks underneath his feet.

Ivy on the other hand held no such resignations or worries, basking in the warm sea air and loving every second of it. She took a deep breath in, filling her lungs with the tang of the tantalisingly salty, yet sweet air. "I love the ocean!" she declared passionately, her hazel eyes bright and shining, before leaning perilously over the protective railings of the bridge.

"You watch you don't fall in," Aaron chuckled good-naturedly, yanking gently on the back of Ivy's shirt and pulling the ditzy woman away to what he deemed was a safe distance from the water.

"I won't!" Ivy protested, batting Aaron's hands away, but cheerfully following along in his wake all the same.

The party continued on for some time in relative easy silence along the various twists and turns of the bridge. Ivy was continually fascinated by the waves lapping underneath their feet, often stopping to hang over the sides in the hope of seeing some water-dwelling Pokemon. They, of course, never turned up when she so eagerly looked for them and she would always slink away in embarrassment and disappointment after her excitable displays ran their course, often mistaking a simple shadow for the figure of a Goldeen or Seaking. They progressed until they reached a small stretch of land, big enough only to accommodate a house, small pier and a few trees. Ivy looked on at this one lone house in sheer astonishment and her staring didn't go unnoticed by a young man sat fishing at the water's edge.

"Nice little place, eh?" he approached her suddenly, making her jump and squeal.

"Y-yes!" She replied after the initial shock wore off, but still a little flustered. "But what's this one little house doing all the way out here?"

"Best fishing spot in all of Kanto, this is," The young man made a grand sweeping motion with his hand around their surroundings, smiling broadly. "Myself and my brothers all love fishing, so of course, we want to live near all the choice spots. Tell me, young lady, do you like to fish?"

"No." Ivy replied bluntly.

The young man looked crushed. "No…?"

"No, I hate it." Ivy said, shuddering violently.

"Oh, Ivy…" Jack said with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "Fishing's not all that bad."

"It's cruel!" Ivy said at once.

"And Pokémon training isn't?"

"That's different!"

"How is it different?"

"I…" Ivy halted in her tracks, flummoxed. "I… It… It just is, okay!"

"You don't know what you're missing. Fishing is very relaxing," Sebastian inputted, smiling kindly at the young fishing advocate. "And you don't even have to keep your catch if you don't want to. You can throw them right back in the ocean afterward."

"I still don't like it…" Ivy said defiantly.

"Like it or not, you're gonna have to do it one time or another," Jack said, nudging Ivy in the ribs.

"Wuh?" Ivy asked stupidly.

"Oh yeah," Aaron said, his eyes flashing with realisation. "Shellder. You're going to have to fish for a Shellder."

"Awwww no…" Ivy whined.

"Surely you must have realised that?" Jack asked, his eyebrows twitching.

Ivy just shot him a sheepish look, making Jack groan. "University level education and you don't even realise you'll have to fish for a Shellder…" he remarked to himself darkly.

"Hey, ease off on her," Aaron said at once, his eyes narrowing.

"This doesn't concern you, Aaron, stay out of it…" Jack said through fiercely gritted teeth.

But of course, Aaron _wouldn't _stay out of it, and it very quickly degenerated into the two of them dropping sly insults and digs at one another. The bemused fisherman simply looked on at the two bickering young men, before looking at Ivy again in the hope of regaining some kind of 'normal' conversation. "So… you're looking for Shellder?"

Ivy nodded.

"You won't find them around these waters, unfortunately." The fisherman said after a moment's consideration. "Your best bet for Shellder is probably around the oceans outside Fuchsia City."

"Oh! We're going to Fuchsia City!" Ivy beamed happily.

"Great," the fisherman nodded in approval. "Do you have a fishing rod?"

"Uhh…" Ivy floundered, looking back at Robert and Sebastian for answers. Both of them returned her blank faces and Sebastian shrugged in an apologetic matter. "I'll, uh… take that as a no, then…" she said, sounding rather dejected.

Despite himself, the young fisherman couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the young woman standing in front of him. A soft smile tugged at his lips. "Chin up, lass." He told her brightly. "Here, tell you what. I'll give you this."

"Huh?" Ivy looked up in surprise as something was suddenly pressed into her hands. She looked dumbfounded as she realised she was suddenly holding onto a large, unwieldy fishing rod complete with bright, garish lure. "What the…?" she asked stupidly.

"Take it," the fisherman said with a smile.

"But I don't even like fishing," Ivy protested weakly.

"Have you ever done it?"

"W-well… no, not exactly."

"Well, how do you know if you don't like it if you've never tried it?"

"He's got you there, Ivy." Sebastian said with a good-natured chuckle.

Ivy shot him a helpless look before turning her attention back to the smiling fisherman, still rather at a loss for what to say. The fisherman was simply staring back at her pleasantly.

"I hope you'll make good use of that. It's one of the latest models, that is."

"I… I will." Ivy nodded, finding herself now clutching the gift to her chest tightly. "Th-thank you. Thank you very much…. This… this will certainly make getting a Shellder a lot easier. You've no idea how much that means to me…" Her words were entirely truthful, her initial bewilderment at the sudden gift melting away into feelings of pure gratitude.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." The fisherman said, tipping his floppy hat to her in a gentlemanly manner, coupled with a broad smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be off. The ocean is a cruel mistress and she calls for me once again." He said grandly, before sauntering off back towards the ocean,

"What? I didn't hear anything," Ivy said without thinking, causing Sebastian to let out a snort of laughter and Robert to sigh haughtily. Still confused as to the fisherman's rather cryptic words, she turned back to the Rhodes cousins and looked inquisitively at them.

"Don't worry about it," Sebastian smiled, resisting the urge to pat her on the head like one would do a little child or baby Growlithe. "Just a figure of speech,"

"Oh," Ivy said plainly, before looking down at the unfamiliar and surprisingly heavy piece of equipment she was only just able to keep a hold of. "Uhh…" she murmured nervously. "What am I supposed to do with this thing…? How do I _use _it?"

"I'll teach you, don't worry." Sebastian said, placing a reassuring hand on Ivy's shoulder. "Come on. Let's grab the bickering old women over there," he jerked his head in the direction of a still warring Jack and Aaron. "…and get started on some fishing,"

"Alright!" Ivy said cheerily.

Of course, as always was with the case with Ivy, her initial enthusiasm very rarely translated well when it came down to actually _executing _the task at hand. Surely enough, not even ten minutes later, Ivy was screeching in fright as the razor sharp hook swung ominously past her face, narrowly missing her neck by mere centimetres. She looked up at Sebastian, her eyes bulging in horror, who was standing only a few feet away from her, patiently acting as a teacher. He shook his head fondly at the frightened young girl before approaching her and taking the rod from her.

"Don't be scared of it," he told her gently weighing the rod carefully in his hands. With a couple of deft movements, he straightened the lure and pulled back on the line, rendering the rod ready for fishing. "Watch me, okay?"

He leant back gently, swinging the rod behind him and then flicked his arms forward expertly, the line soaring straight out and making a satisfying _plonk _into the deep water. He reeled the line in almost immediately, failing to notice the stunned look on his pupil's face and then handed the offending rod back to Ivy, who squeaked in terror at having to hold it again. Her eyes were firmly fixated on the sharp hook, entertaining horrid thoughts of what would happen were she accidentally to get it snagged in her skin. After a little encouragement, she dared to try and cast for herself but the line barely even travelled a few solitary feet and ended up drifting uselessly in the shallows. She groaned theatrically and looked helplessly back at the four men she was travelling with for some kind of reassurance.

Aaron was the first to speak. "You're doing fine," he said comfortingly, expertly cutting over Robert who was, no doubt, about to come in with some sarcastic remark. "Just keep trying. You can't expect to get it straight away,"

"Aaron's right, Ivy." Sebastian said kindly. "This kind of thing takes a lot of practice."

Ivy groaned in exasperation. "Which I don't have _time _for…" she remarked to herself darkly, huffily reeling in her line and attempting to cast again.

Twenty minutes later and after a snapped line, a repaired line, a lost lure and seemingly _hundreds _of failed cast attempts, a frustrated Ivy let out a howl of impatience, threw the fishing rod down and stalked away. Robert shook his head at the girl's retreating back, both Sebastian and Jack winced, but it was Aaron who quickly got to his feet and pursued her. His attempts to reason with her and comfort her fell on deaf ears, as the knowledge she had been defeated by something as trivial as a _fishing rod_ had severely dented what little remained of her pride. While Aaron still foolishly continued to talk some sense back into her, a curious Jack approached the offending fishing rod and picked it up.

"How does this thing work exactly?" he asked Sebastian, frowning slightly as he turned it over in his hands.

"Here, let me show you,"

After a quick demonstration, Jack took control of the fishing rod. To his surprise, the amazement of both Robert and Sebastian, and the sheer exasperation of Ivy, the line sailed forward an impressive distance, albeit curling a little too far to the left. However, it was an impressive attempt for someone who had never even picked up a fishing rod before now. Jack blinked in surprise at his good luck while Ivy let out a tortured groan upon seeing this.

"Of course _he _would get it! I can't catch a break, can I? I should just change my name to "Ivy Can't Catch a Break McKenzie"!"

Aaron stared rather blankly at Ivy as she ranted to nobody in particular, while Robert let out a sigh. "Yes, she really _is _that melodramatic," he said with a nod.

"Sorry, Ivy…" Jack said rather sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. He set the fishing rod down, the lure still bobbing merrily in the slab of rippling, glimmering blue. "I guess some people just have the knack for it, eh?"

"You are not helping!" Ivy moaned, sinking her head into her hands.

"Sorry," Jack said, but he wasn't really.

"Don't lose hope; just try again, alright?" Aaron said in an attempt to rekindle the girl's spirits, but she was having none of it, muttering angrily under her breath about how stupid she was and that she had no hope for anything if she couldn't even fish properly.

"Jeez, what a martyr…" Robert sighed.

"Oh, Ivy, don't be like that…" Jack said sadly as his friend furiously berated herself. "You're not stupid. You're not—" But his attempts at reassurance were suddenly violently cut off with a piercing scream and a frightened yell of "What the hell is _that_?!"

The fishing rod Jack had left idly sitting on its own had begun moving and twitching of its own accord. A frightened Jack darted away from it as it slowly began to inch closer and closer towards the edge of the pier, the line growing tauter as if something was pulling on it and exerting an enormous amount of pressure upon it. Sebastian's face broke out in astonishment and he cried out. "A bite! You've got a bite!"

"Where?!" Ivy cried out in horrified surprise, her eyes immediately scanning Jack all over. "Who bit you?!"

"No, on the fishing rod! You've got a bite on the fishing rod!" Sebastian pointed manically at the juddering fishing rod. "Get it! Quickly! Reel it in!"

The normally unflappable Jack let out a string of expletives, lunging for the fishing rod and frantically attempting to reel in whatever was clinging onto the other end of his lure. The struggle seemed to go on for ages, the others crowding around in apprehension, breath held and a sense of jittery excitement encompassing them. Even Robert couldn't deny a sense of intrigue as to what exactly Jack had managed to snag on the other end of the line. The pressure on the hook tugged violently, fighting Jack's best attempts to reel it in. It put up a valiant struggle, almost pulling the fishing rod clean out of Jack's hands at one point. Within a few moments, Jack was exhausted and worn out from the effort.

"I think I've got a _Gyarados _on the other end of this thing!" He grunted, sweat standing out his brow, still grappling with reeling in the 'monster' that lay in the shadows of the deep blue ocean.

But with one almighty tug and a cry that wouldn't have sounded out of place in an arena full of Roman Gladiators, the line eventually soared out of the water taking Jack's catch with it. But while Jack expected the giant, serpentine Pokémon with shining blue scales and vicious, barbed teeth, instead came a tiny, pale blue figure that landed with a soft _thud _onto the wooden pier.

The five adults crowded the tiny Pokémon inquisitively. Robert was the first to speak.

"Pfft. Some Gyarados…"

His remark then yielded him an angry protest and a face full of sticky, sloppy black ink. As the projectile hit, Robert yelled out in surprise, his arms flailing uselessly, while the little Pokémon in the centre of the little travelling party let out an indignant cry of "Horsea! Hor_sea_!"

"Oh, how cute!" Ivy squealed.

"Yeah, real cute…" Robert replied angrily, impatiently sluicing off the worst of the black ink in a disgruntled manner.

"Horsea! Horsea!" the little Pokemon cried out, spitting thick globs of ink at Robert's feet, making him curse and swear and back off immediately. It was quite a funny thing to see, a grown man like Robert practically cowering away from a seemingly harmless little Horsea.

"It really doesn't like Robert, does it?" Ivy observed with a short chuckle, kneeling down to get a better look at the spirited little thing. Her eyes trailed over its predominantly pale blue body, save a cream belly and fin, admiring the tiny, glimmering scales speckled all over. Its eyes, normally huge in a relatively small head, were narrowed almost to slits, giving the Pokémon an unusually threatening look, Sebastian felt.

"Yeah, sure, everyone pick on the guy who got inked…" Robert said, slicking off the final little bit of ink from his face. But no sooner had he removed the last spot, the Horsea let out another indignant cry and this time fully _sprayed _the young man from head to toe in sticky black ink.

"Okay, you kinda _were_ asking for that one," Aaron grinned.

Robert's only response was to swear profusely and stalk away, dripping in ink and leaving a tell-tale trail behind him. Ivy stifled a fit of giggles and even Sebastian had to visibly fight to keep a wicked smile from stretching over his face. Jack, however, looked down at the irate little Horsea, wondering what on earth was causing it to be so aggressive. It was then that he noticed the little hook snagged in the Horsea's mouth. Immediately, he got down onto one knee, reaching his hands out to the little Pokémon.

"Jack, be careful!" Ivy screeched.

Ivy's sudden cry seemed to frighten the standoffish Water type and it responded by violently spitting out another glob of ink at the incoming young adult. Thankfully for Jack, this one missed, sailing right over his shoulder. But seconds later, an irate, yet, familiar cry of "You have _got _to be kidding me!" sounded out from behind them, causing Aaron to descend into a loud burst of laughter.

"Come here, little one," Jack murmured in a low, soothing voice, gently resting his hands around the tiny Horsea. With a quick and simple movement, he slipped the hook from the Horsea's mouth and discarded it. The little seahorse Pokémon let out a tiny contented sound, almost like a purring noise and jumped forward straight into Jack's lap. Jack let out a cry of surprise at the sudden contact with the little Pokémon and looked up, rather dumbfounded, at Aaron, Ivy and Sebastian.

"It likes me," Jack said, rather stupidly.

"I wonder why!" Ivy grinned in a teasing manner.

"Oh, shush, you." Jack scolded her, but he was smiling all the same as the little seahorse nuzzled into him. "It's very cute…"

"You should take it with you," Sebastian advised.

"I should?"

"Sure," Sebastian said with a casual shrug. "You caught it after all _and _it appears to have taken a shine to you. I think it would be pretty upset if you just left it,"

"Yeah, that is a point…" Jack said, reaching around to his bag and fishing out a Pokeball. He looked at the Pokeball a little nervously, before nudging the Horsea to get its attention. "Hey, little one…" he said softly. "You… would you like to come along with me?"

"Horsea! Sea! Sea!"

Jack had no idea what the little Pokemon had just said, but he sincerely hoped that was Horsea-speak for 'yes'. He tapped the Horsea on the head with the little ball; sucking the Pokemon safely inside the capsule. The ball only twitched for a moment before falling still and silent. Jack blinked at the ease of which it had all happened, privately feeling it rather anticlimactic. Just like that, he, Jack Hartman, was now in possession of a Horsea.

Ivy let out a little sigh as the Pokeball let out the _ding _sound that indicated a successful capture. "I don't believe him. First time fishing and he not only casts perfectly but also gets a bite! Then he has the nerve to actually _catch _what he fished up! It's not fair…" she said to herself rather sadly. "He has all the luck…" she moaned while dejectedly collecting up the fishing rod and looking at it with contempt.

"Don't worry," she heard Aaron's voice come from behind her. She also felt a hand on her shoulder. "It's just beginner's luck."

"Beginner's luck, huh?" Ivy echoed softly.

"Yeah. That's all it is. Just beginner's luck. It can't hold out forever." Aaron said, leaning in a little closer, his breath tickling the whorls of her ear. "Hey, just between you and me… It's a lot better to fail at first and succeed later by working hard than start off succeeding by relying on a little good fortune. Cos good fortune unfortunately can't last forever."

"I hope bad fortune doesn't last forever too…" Ivy said with a long exhale.

"Don't you worry, Ivy." Aaron's fingers tightened comfortingly around Ivy's shoulder in a gentle squeeze. "I think your luck's gonna get _much _better from now on."

"Really? How?" Ivy asked.

But all Aaron did was flash her a cheesy, cheeky smile and begin walking ahead, cheerfully announcing they would have to get a move on if they wanted to reach Fuchsia City on schedule. Ivy watched him walk ahead for a few seconds, before giving chase, trailing her fishing rod loosely behind her. Jack followed along, engaged in excited conversation with Sebastian, while Robert, long forgotten, was still impatiently trying to clean off the black ink that had now dried and crusted onto his clothes.

"_Is this what my life has come to…_?" Robert thought to himself, impatiently picking at the drying ink as his travelling partners pulled further and further away from him. "_I've been trailed halfway across the region on protest, I'm basically surrounded by idiots, I'm getting caught up in all manner of problems I don't want to be involved in and now, I'm getting spat at and inked by baby Horsea. Robert Rhodes, you have _got _to sort your life out…_"

Giving up his clothes for essentially ruined, Robert sighed, gave up and mooched off after his travelling companions.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**And here's a Master's Degree update! I'm so, so sorry I've taken forever, but I'm back at university so updates will be considerably slower. **

**Just some filler-y stuff here at the moment to introduce the newest member of Jack's team. The plot will pick up in the next chapter, promise!**

**Oh yeah! Any fans of my work should check out my latest fic "Don't Forget To Write" which I am co-authoring with my lovely boyfriend MasterFreezeman! We're both really excited about it!**

**Thanks to my faithful reviewers, Puniful-TeaKat, Shadow Serenity 57, MasterFreezeman and MidsummerMoonlight99!**

**Until next time!**


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